No specific instructions issued to deal with fans if they boo Hardik Pandya during MI vs RR IPL 2024 clash: Reports  

No specific instructions have been issued to deal with fans if they boo Hardik Pandya during the Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) IPL 2024 game at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Monday, April 1.

New Mumbai Indians captain Pandya was booed during the franchise's opening match against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. That's not all; he has been subjected to brutal trolling by fans online, while several nasty comments have been passed when he has been fielding near the boundary.

As per some recent reports, the Mumbai Cricket Association had decided to put some measures in place to curb unruly behavior by fans during the MI-RR IPL 2024 clash at the Wankhede in Mumbai, including potential ejections of those targeting Pandya.

As per a recent report in the Times of India, though, all such claims are baseless. TOI quoted sources close to the MCA as saying that no specific instructions have been issued for the Mumbai-Rajasthan game.

The report quoted sources as adding that 'the MCA adheres to the established guidelines set forth by the Board of Control for Cricket in India concerning spectator conduct in stadiums, ensuring consistency across all cricket fixtures, whether IPL or domestic matches'.

Pandya has been in the firing line of Mumbai Indians fans since the franchise made the big decision to remove Rohit Sharma as captain. Under Pandya, MI have played two games in IPL 2024, losing both. They went down to Gujarat Titans by six runs in Ahmedabad and to SunRisers Hyderabad by 31 runs in Hyderabad.

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"Block it out" - Steve Smith's advice to Hardik Pandya

Australian batting great Steve Smith had advised Pandya to block out all the negativity he's facing, adding that players should consider such stuff irrelevant.

Smith, who has faced a fair share of hostility from cricket fans over his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering saga, told ESPNcricinfo:

"Having faced something similar in the past, I'd try and just say, to block it out, it's all irrelevant. No one outside knows what you are going through. No one (from outside) is in that change room."

"Personally, for me, it doesn't bother me. I don't care. I don't pay any attention. You know it's all white noise, but certainly players do hear things and everyone's entitled to their own emotions and how they respond to those. So is it affecting him (Hardik)? Maybe. It's possible. He probably hasn't experienced that before in, in any walk of life," he added.

Pandya has only claimed one wicket in two games in IPL 2024 and has been dismissed for 11 and 24 respectively.