‘He’s smiling too much, acting like…’: KP worried over Hardik’s booing

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya once again was at the receiving end of the fans’ wrath as constant booing of him once again engulfed the Wankhede on Sunday.
From the toss, to when he came out to bowl and then the hammering he received at the hands of MS Dhoni in the final over, fans’ rude behaviour for Hardik was once again quite evident.
With the relentless booing of Hardik that began since Mumbai’s first match and has continued till the halfway stage of the tournament, a worried Kevin Pietersen pointed out, it is massively affecting the all-rounder’s performance and something needs to happen quickly.
“I actually think, with Hardik Pandya, everything away from the game is affecting him so much. He’s smiling too much when he does the toss. He’s trying to act like he is so happy. He is not happy. I have been there. I have been in the firing line. And I can tell you now, it affects you. If what’s happening to Hardik Pandya.
“The boos we have been hearing just now and I know they are happy to see former CSK captain (Dhoni), the lion, smacking him (Hardik) all over the park, it hurts you. Because he has emotions. And he is an Indian player and he doesn’t want to be treated like this. So when this is happening, it’s affecting him, it’s affecting his cricket and something needs to happen, Pietersen said on Star Sports.
After leaking 43 in his three overs, Hardik also flopped with the bat in MI’s pursuit of 207, scoring just 2 runs off 6 balls in a demanding chase.
CSK beat Mumbai by 20 runs to register their fourth win of the season.