"Rare Happening": England Great Left Stunned By Crowd Booing Hardik Pandya In IPL 2024

Former England cricket team batter Kevin Pietersen was left stunned by Hardik Pandya getting booed by the Ahmedabad crowd during the IPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans on Sunday. This is the first time that Hardik was playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad since completing his sensational trade move from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and he received a heated welcome from the local crowd. Pietersen acknowledged the boos from the crowd on commentary and said that it is rare for an Indian cricketer to get booed on home soil.

"I have never seen any Indian player getting booed like they are booing Hardik Pandya here in Ahmedabad. This is a rare happening," Pietersen said on commentary.

Fine death bowling by Gujarat Titans (GT), pacers Umesh Yadav and Spencer Johnson in particular, helped the side secure a thrilling six-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

MI start their Hardik Pandya captaincy era with a loss.

In the chase of 169 runs, Mumbai Indians was off to a bad start as Ishan Kishan feathered an edge to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, dismissed for a four-ball duck by Azmatullah Omarzai. MI was 0/1 in 0.4 overs.

Rohit Sharma later on developed a brief partnership with young batter Naman Dhir, a 24-year-old with an experience of four T20 innings. Rohit smacked Umesh Yadav for two cracking fours while Naman smashed Omarzai for three fours and a six.

However, Omarzai had the last laugh, trapping Naman leg-before-wicket for 20 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six. MI was 30/2 in three overs. Rohit, however, was unfazed as he continued punishing Umesh with a four and a six.

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