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'The Hero Worship In India Is...': Justin Langer Shocked On Contrast Of Love For Dhoni-Pandya 

Justin Langer On MS Dhoni and Hardik PandyaJustin Langer On MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya

Lucknow SuperGiants coach and Aussie great, Justin Langer recently talked about the vast differences in the way Indian players are treated during the time he travelled with LSG for the Indian Premier League this year.

Speaking on BBC Sport's weekly cricket podcast, Langer narrated his experience at IPL where he was left awestruck by unparalleled love for Dhoni.

Here's what he said:

“It’s amazing. I first heard of it; then we played against them twice. They came to Lucknow and our stadium is around 50,000 people, I mean there would have been 48,000 MS Dhoni wearing the number seven shirts. 

I couldn’t believe it, and then we went to CSK, and it wasn’t 98%; it was 100%. And you wouldn’t believe this: hero worship in India.”

On the other hand, Langer talked about the downside of this hero worship, while drawing parallels to the harsh treatment faced by MI's new skipper Hardik Pandya after he dethroned the 5-time IPL winning skipper, Rohit Sharma and said:

"I saw the flip side of it as well actually, because Rohit Sharma is a huge hero in India as their captain. And what happened with Mumbai Indians this year? 

Hardik Pandya took over as the captain from Rohit Sharma, the much loved Rohit Sharma and it was really sad to watch. He got booed every game, that is the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team."

While LSG did not qualify for IPL playoffs this year, Kolkata Knight Riders will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final on 26 May in Chennai.