Hardik Pandya gets booed again as chants of 'Rohit… Rohit' fill Wankhede Stadium
Mumbai, Apr 1: There was no letup in crowd hostility towards Hardik Pandya with fans booing the Mumbai Indians skipper as he walked out for toss in their IPL match against Rajasthan Royals on Monday, even as chants of 'Rohit… Rohit' reverberated across the Wankhede Stadium.
But, with the bat in his hand, Pandya managed to get the crowd on his side, quickly turning the jeers into cheers with half a dozen boundaries during a 21-ball 34, which lifted his team from 20/4 to 76/5 in the 10th over, when his entertaining knock came to an end.
In fact, the cheers from around the ground were as loud as any when Pandya smashed his first four, a far cry from the evening's hostile reception.
The 29-year-old Pandya, who replaced Rohit as the captain of the Mumbai Indians in the lead-up to the tournament, has already been subjected to crowd's anger over the franchise's decision regarding leadership during the team's previous two away games at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Pandya was booed by a section of the crowd before the toss when he was doing rounds of the field as a warm-up exercise.
The flamboyant all-rounder was then booed again when his named was announced at the time of the toss, to which Pandya only smiled as loud chants in support of the former Mumbai skipper Rohit filled the venue.
The jeers continued as Pandya began speaking after losing the toss to Rajasthan Royals' skipper Sanju Samson, forcing presenter Sanjay Manjrekar to ask the crowd to "behave".
Right at that moment, Rohit, in his training kit, was meeting his former teammate Harbhajan Singh who was at the field as one of the commentators doing the pre-match show.
If the relentless booing was not enough, Pandya again found himself at the receiving end of crowd's displeasure, especially from the Sachin Tendulkar stand when he walked out to bat with his team reeling at 20/4 in the fourth over.
"The day Hardik wins a game for MI by contributing big, he'll walk into the Wankhede to a hero's welcome! Wankhede will soon chant 'Navratri maa Daandiya, Wankhede maa Pandya'," said Nish Navalkar, a member of the 'North Stand Gang' at the iconic venue.
Additionally, as per officials here, the fans were allowed inside the stadium only after their banners were confiscated due to an election commission directive given to the Mumbai police.
However, there was an element of miscommunication as well as misinterpretation since the directive was about not allowing political banners but fans complained on social media about all banners being taken away.
There were, nevertheless, a few fans who were able to carry their banners inside.
Chants for Rohit and Boos for Hardik Wankhede crowd really won pic.twitter.com/VxrxpVNstY
— Monk. (@Itsmonk_45) April 1, 2024
Huge cheer for Rohit Sharma outside the Wankhede stadium. 🔥pic.twitter.com/L9orlUv7NG
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 1, 2024
Sanjay Manjrekar asking Mumbai crowd to behave as Pandya gets booed in Wankhede.
— Harsh Tiwari (@harsht2024) April 1, 2024
Mumbai fans aren't still accepting Pandya as their Captain.#MIvsRR #RohitSharma#HardikPandya pic.twitter.com/Kj6q4h9gLc
Rohit Rohit chants in Wankhede stadium Mumbai.
— Nisha (@NishaRo45_) April 1, 2024
Rohit Sharma is bigger than IPL 🐐 pic.twitter.com/9iw9Ow6xHm
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
