Brian Lara's 'play for India' dig at Hardik Pandya leaves Pietersen, Ian Bishop in splits amid boos from Ahmedabad crowd

Hardik Pandya was elated to return to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where he lifted his maiden IPL trophy as a captain for Gujarat Titans back in 2022. Yet, Hardik, who was made a shock switch to Mumbai Indians last November and later was named as their captain for the IPL 2024 season, was jeered at and booed by the Ahmedabad crowd throughout the match against his former franchise. Amid the crowd reaction, West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara took a cheeky dig at the all-rounder on air which left fellow commentators in splits.

It happened in the 12th over of Gujarat's innings after Mumbai opted to bowl first. While the boos and jeering were evident since the toss, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen admitted that he was rather baffled at the reaction from the spectators, given that Hardik is first a player of the Indian cricket team and then an IPL player.

“I have never seen any Indian player getting booed like they are booing Hardik Pandya here in Ahmedabad. This is a rare happening,” he said.

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Ian Bishop, who was present in the commentary box as well, couldn't stop wondering as he asked “What can he do to win them back?”

The query found a hilarious response from fellow West Indies cricketer Lara, who said: “Play for India….the next time they play here,” as Bishop and Pietersen were left laughing loudly.

Hardik failed to win over the crowd eventually as Mumbai Indians succumbed to a six-run loss, thus ruining his homecoming. MI stood on course of a win in the chase of 169 as at point they required 48 runs from 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. But a valiant effort from Gujarat bowlers in the death overs saw the hosts prevail in the thriller.

Despite the reaction from the crowd, Hardik reiterated what he said at toss on returning to Ahmedabad as he hailed the lively atmosphere at the venue. He said: "It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well."