A young and ardent female fan of Rohit Sharma got the opportunity to meet the former Mumbai Indians captain on the sidelines of the team's practice at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, April 6.
Mumbai Indians will play their second home game in the IPL 2024 against Delhi Capitals at the iconic stadium on Sunday afternoon. The five-time IPL champions had hosted Rajasthan Royals but registered their home defeat of the season.
In a video that went viral on social media, a female was seen meeting Rohit Sharma while carrying her drawing of former Mumbai Indians captain and touched his feet. The 36-year-old acknowledged the fan's request to autograph on the drawing.
Rohit Sharma has been receiving massive support ever since he lost his Mumbai Indians captaincy ahead of IPL 2024. The veteran cricketer was replaced by Hardik Pandya as the skipper of the side. The unceremonious removal of Rohit Sharma from the captaincy duties by Mumbai Indians management received a severe backlash and criticism as many questioned the rationale behind it despite him leading the team to a record five IPL titles.
During the Mumbai Indians' matches, the chants of Rohit Sharma or 'Mumbaicha Raja Rohit Sharma' echoed across the stadium. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya received hostile receptions from the crowd in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and even Mumbai and was subjected to jeers and derogatory remarks throughout the match.
Mumbai Indians will hope to end 3-match losing streak
Mumbai Indians have had a disappointing start to their IPL 2024 campaign under the leadership of Hardik Pandya as they are on a three-match losing streak. The five-time IPL champions suffered their first defeat of the season against Gujarat Titans by six runs.
Thereafter, MI handed second successive defeat by SunRisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad. Chasing a hefty target of 278, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 246/5 despite strong contributions from Tilak Verma (64), Tim David (42), Ishan Kishan (34) and Naman Dir (30).
In their first home game, Mumbai Indians lost to Rajasthan Royals by six wickets. The hosts had a lacklustre batting as they could manage to post only 125/9 in 20 overs on the board. RR chased 126-run target in 15.3 overs.
Mumbai Indians will be aiming to end three-match losing streak and earn first win of the IPL 2024 when they face Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium.
