The five-time champion Mumbai Indians have lost their first two matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, which is a poor start for the team. After Hardik Pandya took over as captain in place of Rohit Sharma, MI have had difficulty gelling as a team.

Fans of Mumbai are still upset that Rohit has been removed as captain as they wait for their team to win for the first time this season under Hardik’s leadership. Consequently, ultimate GOAT Rohit Sharma surged to the top of the X, formerly known as Twitter, trends on Sunday.

Taking to X, a user said, Mi will never be same again and used the trending hastag ultimate GOAT Rohit Sharma. Another said, Rohit Sharma will be forever MI’s captain. A third user said e was fearless from beginning. Others also used the trending hashtag to support Rohit Sharma.

Supporters have not stopped venting their annoyance at MI for choosing the captain Hardik instead of Rohit. In fact, the fan fights have gotten so bad that Ravichandran Ashwin, the spinner for the Rajasthan Royals and India, had to address the issue and ask people who are criticizing Hardik to stop.

In a YouTube video, Ashiwn expressed his strong support for Hardik and urged Rohit’s supporters to stop trolling MI’s current captain.

Ashwin said, fans are taking ugly routes. It is important to remember that these players represent our nation. He said, he dosen’t understand, what warrants a cricketer getting booed? Why should a team come out to issue a clarification if you don’t like a player and boo a player? Ashwin responded to a query on his YouTube channel.

During Mumbai Indians (MIs) clash with Gujarat Indians (GTs) in their season opening, Pandya was subjected to a nasty comments of mockery from the supporters who felt that he had been betrayed.

The 30-year-old was similarly mistreated by supporters during the encounter against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Punjab Kings(PBKS) by 21 runs on Saturday to clinch their first victory in the IPL 2024 season. Debutant Mayank Yadav led Lucknow’s pace attack and took 3 important wickets to break the backbone of Punjab’s strong start. Mayank Yadav consistently clocked 150kph to trouble the Punjab Kings batsmen while defending the 200 run target.

He bowled the fastest delivery of the season thus far – 155.8 kph to make a massive statement on debut. He finished with figures of 3 for 27 in 4 overs, assisted by pacer Mohsin Khan, who took 2 for 34. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batsmen Krunal Pandya (43), Quinton De Kock (54) and Nicholas Pooran (42) ensured a good finish for their team and powered the score to 199/8 after 20 overs.

Lucknow Super Giants kept losing wickets at regular intervals but there was a batsman at one end who kept going and helped Lucknow post a formidable total at their home ground. Lucknow Super Giants lost early wickets in the powerplay as KL Rahul (15) and Devdutt Padikkal (9) failed to convert their starts into big scores in the powerplay.

In a suprising move KL Rahul decided to rest from his leadership role in the first innings and just played as a batsman. LSG batsman Nicholas Pooran lead the team in his absence. Lucknow’ stand in skipper won the toss and elected to bat first against Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS). Explaining Rahul’s decision, Pooran said Rahul had suffered an injury and the team has decided to play him as an impact sub.

Punjab Kings failed to capitalize on the century-run opening stand provided Shikhar Dhawan and Johnny Bairstow (42), and the increasing run rate because of Mayank’s 3 wicket spell proved to be the difference. In the end, lady luck finally smiled finally smiled at the LSG and the team registered its maiden win in Tata IPL 2024.

Ravichandran Ashwin has demanded an end to fan clashes in India following taunts directed towards Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Hardik, the five-time IPL champion’s captain who succeeded Rohit Sharma, has had a difficult time in his early leadership role. The all-rounder has received criticism on social media after losing his first two matches as MI’s captain.

The Ahmedabad crowd booed Hardik during MI’s opening IPL 2024 match against the Gujarat Titans. Fans also attacked Hardik harshly on social media after their defeat by SRH, which ended their season without winning.

Ashwin addressed the issue on his YouTube channel in response to a fan’s question on whether MI ought to intervene and issue a statement.

The RR spinner asserted that the fan fights in India are getting ugly and that neither the team nor the player is at fault. Criticising it and defining it as a full-blown cinema culture, Ashwin expressed amazement at the booing of Indian players by domestic fans.

He said, he thinks it is the responsibility and onus of the fans. Ashwin said, fan wars are turning so ugly. It is very sad to point where in their comments section, people talk on Kohli and Dhoni. They’re both legends. They’re Indian team legends, he added.

During his YouTube video he questioned fans saiyng, has anyone witnessed fighting between Joe Root and Zak Crawley fans in any other country? He said, its’ crazy and he is unable to understand these things. Do Australian supporters of Pat Cummins and Steve Smith fight?, he added.

The RR bowler said, this is cricket and what fans are doing is  complete cinema culture. Fan wars shouldn’t turn ugly, he said. These guys are our own cricketers. Why do you boo your own player? said Ashwin.

In addition, Ashwin mentioned how great players like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar had all played for younger captains like MS Dhoni in the past and expressed his desire for the nation to be free of hero worship.

Meanwhile, RR will face MI on April 1 at Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai.