“I do not think the booing will hold out for too long,” Trent Boult backs Hardik Pandya after three consecutive defeats

Mumbai Indians succumbed to their third consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League, as they remain the only franchise to register their first points on the board. The five-time champions were defeated by Rajasthan Royals, who maintained their 100% start to the season, winning their first three games.

MI captain Hardik Pandya was not well received by his home fans at Wankhede, as there were several boos heard around the stadium. Rajasthan Royals pacer Trent Boult came out in support of his former MI teammate, and stated that the booing will not hold out for too long.

Trent Boult came back to haunt his former franchise, dismissing the likes of Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis all for golden ducks. The Kiwi pacer who won the player of the match award stated that Hardik Pandya is among his favorite Indian cricketers.

“It is something you cannot control, as professional sportspeople it is what you are exposed to in a way. You have to block out the white noise and focus on the job, (but) it is easier said than done. There are a lot of passionate fans in this country, and speaking of Hardik specifically, he is one of my favorite Indian cricketers and I do not think the booing will hold out for too long. I am sure, he is one of those guys who can put it aside and focus on the job,” said Boult.

Hardik Pandya encourages Mumbai Indians to be a lot more disciplined and couraegous

Mumbai Indians were all out of sorts inside the powerplay overs, as they lost four wickets on the back of some brilliant bowling by Trent Boult and Nandre Burger. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma somewhat steadied the ship, however, the MI skipper was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal which shifted the momentum back in favor of Rajasthan Royals.

Hardik Pandya encouraged Mumbai Indians to be a little more courageous, and disciplined. He still believes that the current set of players are pretty good enough to get the job done on a given day. Mumbai Indians will next face Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday afternoon, as they look to get off the mark.

“Yes, a tough night, we didn’t start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more. It’s okay, we didn’t expect such a surface, but you can’t always have it as a batter, it’s nice at times for the bowlers to have a say. It’s all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, at some other times it doesn’t. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage,” said Hardik in his post-match interview.

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