Hardik Pandya cops Rs 12 lakh fine for slow over-rate in GT vs MI match, will he be banned again?

In his first outing after serving a ban in Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2025 opener against Chennai Super Kings, captain Hardik Pandya was handed a Rs 12 lakh fine for another slow over-rate offence during his team’s 36-run defeat against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
“As this was his team’s first offence of the season under Article 2.2 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate offences, Pandya was fined INR 12 lakhs,” a statement from the IPL read.
After losing the first encounter in a low-scoring thriller in Chennai with Suryakumar Yadav leading the side in his absence, Pandya’s men won the toss and opted to bowl on a black soil strip in Ahmedabad. However, Mumbai could not prevent the Titans from putting on a sizable total, reaching 196 for seven in 20 overs.
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Mumbai were then restricted to 160 for six in the chase, with captain Hardik failing to land the big strikes before being dismissed for a scratchy 17-ball 11.
Will Hardik be banned again?
After MI’s group-stage exit last year, Pandya was banned for the slow-over rate offence against the Lucknow Super Giants during the team’s last outing. It was the third time in 14 games where MI had failed to maintain the over-rates, resulting in the skipper’s ban, an INR 30 lakh match fee fine and the rest of the playing XII, including the Impact Player, were either fined Rs 12 lakh of 50 percent of their match fees.
However, the rules for over-rate offences were tweaked on the eve of the IPL 2025 season during the captains’ meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. According to the refined laws, captains will be handed demerit points and fines for over-rate offences instead of serving match bans.