Hardik Pandya will miss the opening IPL match of the upcoming season, as the BCCI severely punished MI’s skipper and fined him INR 30 crore.
According to the BCCI, Hardik Pandya’s penalty for sluggish over rate would prevent him from participating in the Mumbai Indians’ opening game of the upcoming season.
The five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI) ‘s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign has ended. After playing all 14 of their league stage matches, MI finished last in the IPL points table with 8 points. Hardik Pandya has been banned for one match in the IPL 2025.
It was as if Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya’s frustrations from the 2024 Indian Premier League weren’t enough. The all-rounder suffered a blow before teams could plan for the upcoming campaign. Hardik’s punishment for keeping a slow over rate in MI’s final game against the Lucknow Super Giants meant that BCCI stated late on Friday night that he would not be eligible to participate in the opening match of the following season.
The BCCI stated, “Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been fined after his team maintained slow over-rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on May 17.”
Since MI has no more games this season, the suspension will start at the opening match of the following one. Even if MI continues using Hardik as their permanent captain, they must field a fresh captain for their tournament debut the following year.
After Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant, Hardik became the second player this year to get a suspension for an overrate transgression. Like Pant, Hardik received a one-match suspension for committing his third overrate offense of the season. The MI players, including the Impact Player versus LSG, were fined ₹12 Lakh, or 50% of their respective match fees, and the MI captain was also fined ₹30 lakh.
“As it was his team’s third offense of the season under the Indian premier league IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to its minimum overrate offenses, Pandya was fined INR 30 lakhs and banned from playing the team’s next match. The remaining members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either INR 12 lakhs or 50 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser,” said the BCCI.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya has been banned from one match and fined Rs 30 lakh by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) following the team’s 10th IPL 2024 defeat against LSG on Friday, May 17. When the Mumbai Indians (MI) play their opening game in the Indian Premier League in 2025, Hardik will be assessed this penalty.
The BCCI will punish Hardik Pandya with Rs 30 lakh in addition to his ban for his poor overrate during Friday’s (May 17) IPL 2024 match between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and LSG at Wankhede Cricket Stadium.
MI’s disappointing season with Pandya
As captain and a player for MI this season, Pandya had an unmemorable campaign. In 14 matches, he scored a pitiful average of 18 runs, totaling only 218 runs. Despite taking 11 wickets, his economy rate of 10.75 was highly concerning. As a captain, he was unable to motivate the team, and as a result, the five-time champions finished last in the standings with just four victories in 14 games.
Despite the excitement surrounding Pandya’s return to the MI lineup, the side only won four of his 14 games in charge. “It was quite difficult. We did not play good quality cricket, eventually cost us the whole season,” Pandya remarked following MI’s 18-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants.
“It’s a professional world. We have to always come out and put our best foot forward. But yes, as a group, we could not play quality cricket or smart cricket.”
Due to their slow over rate throughout the match, the remaining players in MI’s playing 11, including the critical impact player, have all been fined Rs 12 lakh, or 50% of their match money.
Hardik Pandya became the second captain and player in IPL 2024 to be suspended for one match due to slow overrate offenses. A similar suspension was previously imposed on Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant for his team’s third overrate transgression, which caused him to miss an important game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.