Ajit Agarkar recalls getting booed at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during the IPL

Ajit Agarkar. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The Indian Premier League (IPL), ever since its inception, has clearly divided the fans in the country. Virat Kohli once was booed at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He had expressed his displeasure over the same later stating that the same people clap for him when he plays for India. And he is not the only player to have faced the wrath of the Mumbai crowd.

The Wankhede crowd has also booed their very own local player Ajit Agarkar when he was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the cash-rich league. The game was between KKR and Mumbai Indians (MI) when the visiting side was bundled out for just 67 runs and MI had chased down the target in just 5.3 overs.

Ajit Agarkar though was joint-highest run-scorer for his team with the bat and conceded only five runs in the only he had bowled. But even then he was booed and the former cricketer recalls that he wasn’t booed at the Wankhede only while playing for Mumbai.

“I was booed at Wankhede at a lot of times. I didn’t get booed there only when I was playing for Mumbai. Playing for India also I have got booed after bowling a bad over, didn’t matter you are from Mumbai or not. But yes, IPL has changed that thing. Even Virat Kohli once said that we play for India and get booed, I think that match was played in Mumbai,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.

Love for the IPL franchise is different, says Ajit Agarkar

Ajit Agarkar admits the moment of him getting booed while playing for KKR was an eyeopener for him. He also claims that he had realised then that the IPL was different while also asserting that the fans now recognise players through their franchise and not with their nation.

“I don’t care about those things, I have got booed enough in my career. You are right but, you expect those things from some states but that was an eyeopener. I realised that this IPL is something else and love for the franchise is different. The fan following of some franchises have increased so much that fans recognise players because of those franchises and not the nation they represent,” the former Mumbai selector added.

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