IPL 2025: MI Captain Hardik Pandya Penalized for Slow Over-Rate

Synopsis

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been fined for a slow over-rate during an IPL match against Gujarat Titans. This is the first offense of the season under IPL's Code of Conduct. MI faced their second loss of the season, with a 36-run defeat against GT, and will next play against KKR.

Key Takeaways

Hardik Pandya fined for slow over-rate.
First offense of IPL 2025 season.
MI lost to Gujarat Titans by 36 runs.
Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj excelled.
MI set to face Kolkata Knight Riders next.

Ahmedabad, March 30 (NationPress) The captain of the Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, has been penalized after his team exhibited a slow over-rate during their IPL match against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.

Since this is the first offence of the season for his team under Article 2.2 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct regarding minimum over-rate violations, Pandya was fined Rs 12 lakhs, as stated by the IPL.

On Saturday, Mumbai faced their second defeat of the season after Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj led the Gujarat Titans to a remarkable 36-run victory over the five-time champions in Match 9 of IPL 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday night.

Previously, Hardik had to miss the campaign opener of MI against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) due to a suspension for a slow over-rate offence in the IPL 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants. In his absence, the five-time champions struggled to set a competitive score against CSK and ultimately fell short by four wickets.

This marks the first instance in IPL 2025 where a captain has been fined for a slow over-rate offence.

The Titans delivered a comprehensive team performance to defeat MI by 36 runs and secure their first win of IPL 2025.

After opting to bat first, GT capitalized on Sai Sudharsan’s 63 off just 41 balls to finish with a score of 196/8. Later, pacer Prasidh Krishna excelled in wicket-taking with his slower deliveries, while Siraj effectively used his scrambled seam deliveries, both claiming two wickets each to help GT limit MI to 160/6 in their 20 overs, marking their entry into the winning column in IPL 2025.

Currently, MI sits ninth in the standings with no wins and will next face the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

“I think we were 15-20 runs short in both batting and bowling. We lacked professionalism in the field, made fundamental errors, and that cost us 20-25 runs, which is significant in a T20 match. The GT openers played exceptionally well, taking only a couple of risky deliveries. They executed their game plan effectively, scoring runs without taking many chances,” Hardik stated following the loss.