'I am so sorry': Mumbai fan apologises to Hardik Pandya after T20 ...

An Indian and MI fan put out a passionate apology to Indian team vice-captain Hardik Pandya. Standing at the Mumbai airport to greet the Indian team, a MI fan expressed their apology to Hardik Pandya on live TV for abusing the all-rounder during the Indian Premier League.

Hardik Pandya poses with the T20 World Cup trophy. (Courtesy: Getty)

Team India left for Mumbai after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 July, after arriving home from Barbados. The Indian team after completing their meeting with the PM left for Mumbai for their open bus parade, scheduled to be held later today. Fans gathered around the Mumbai airport to greet the team. One of the fans, put out a passionate apology to Hardik Pandya for abusing him during the Indian Premier League 2024 season. Standing at the Mumbai airport to greet the Indian team, the fan expressed their apology on live TV for abusing Pandya during the Indian Premier League.

Speaking to IndiaToday, the fan said sorry to Hardik Pandya and said that she wished she had never said the horrible things aimed at the MI captain. Pandya was in the middle of the storm in the IPL 2024 season when he took the captaincy over from Rohit Sharma. Under Hardik's captaincy, MI lost form and finished at the bottom of the points table. Pandya copped a lot of abuse from fans and experts after he failed to replicate his GT form.

"First and foremost, I want to say sorry to Hardik Pandya. I don’t know why I trolled him in the first place. I am very sorry. Thank you so much. The last over was amazing. And I want to say sorry. Why did I even say anything wrong about you? I don’t know," the female fan said on live TV.

The fan referred to Pandya's superb rearguard action with the ball in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa. Pandya had picked Heinrich Klaasen's wicket in the 17th over of the match, when SA needed less than run-a-ball to win the title. Pandya returned to bowl the final over as well and dismissed David Miller, courtesy of a superb catch from Suryakumar Yadav, which helped India seal the match by 7 runs.

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Hardik Pandya was booed in multiple games in the IPL 2024. Even MI's home stadium of Wankhede had been hostile towards the all-rounder. On top of that, Pandya's poor form with both bat and ball caught the attention of former cricketers who criticised him heavily.

Speaking to the broadcaster, Pandya said that the win really meant a lot to him and had come at the right time.

"It means a lot. Very emotional, we’ve been working very hard and something was not clicking. But today we got what the whole nation wanted. More special for me, how my last 6 months were, I haven’t spoken a word. I knew that if I kept working hard I could shine and do what I could do. Getting an opportunity like this makes it more special," Hardik Pandya said after the match.