Follow UsR Ashwin has offered his support to Hardik Pandya who has been receiving a lot of hate (online and offline) ever since taking over the Mumbai Indians captaincy from Rohit Sharma. India’s fast-bowling all-rounder was booed in Ahmedabad last week when he played against his former franchise Gujarat Capitals. He received the same reception in Hyderabad earlier this week.
"People should remember which country these players represent. It's our country. Fan wars should never take such an ugly route. I've said it many times, this is cinema culture, that happens only here,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
"I know there are many things like marketing, branding, and positioning. I don't deny it, but have you seen these fights happen in any other country? Have you seen, for instance, Joe Root and Zak Crawley fans have a fight? Or Joe Root and Jos Buttler fans fight? It's crazy. Do you see Steven Smith fans fighting with Pat Cummins fans in Australia?"
Taking examples from the past, Ashwin added: “I don't understand. If you don't like a player and boo him, why should the club come out and issue a clarification? We act like this has not happened before.
"Sourav Ganguly played under Sachin Tendulkar and vice versa. These two have both played under Rahul Dravid. These three have played under Anil Kumble and all of them have played under MS Dhoni. When they were under Dhoni, these players were cricket jambhavans (giants). Dhoni too played under Virat Kohli."
The Indian offspinner has urged fans not to compare sports with cinema. "You know what the issue is? We all happily sit inside our houses and look at the trash outside. We expect someone else to pick it up instead of doing it ourselves.
"This is real-time sport. Sport has real players with real emotions, nothing is scripted. Hero and hero worshiping is great, but sport should never be compared to cinema. How we go beyond that, counter it and find balance to play cricket is what this is all about.
"You are free to enjoy what you like about your favourite players or team, but not at the cost of putting another player down. This is one thing I'd love to see disappear from the face of the earth in our country."
Mumbai have lost both their games and will next play Rajasthan Royals on April 1.