Hardik Pandya Becomes The First Captain To Be Punished Under New IPL Rule

Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) team, became the first skipper to be charged with a slow-over-rate offense under the new rule that punishes with demerit points and fines. The 31-year-old cricketer is also the first captain to be fined for a slow overrate in the Indian Premier League 2025 season.

On Saturday, March 29, in Ahmedabad, the Mumbai Indians lost to the Titans by 36 runs in the eighth IPL 2025 match. Mumbai was put on the defensive after Prasidh Krishna produced an outstanding spell of 2/18 in four overs. MI chased a goal of 197 but could only achieve 160/6 in their allocated 20 overs.

The Gujarat Titans batted first and scored 196 runs. With 63 runs, Sai Sudharsan was the leading scorer. Mumbai's best bowler was Hardik Pandya, who finished with stats of 2/29. With just four fielders permitted outside the 30-yard circle in the last over of GT's innings, MI was also fined for having a slow over-rate.

MI Skipper Hardik Pandya Fined for Slow Over-Rate

MI got off to a bad start chasing 197. Two of their early wickets were lost during the power play. Tilak Varma (39) and Suryakumar Yadav (48) attempted to stabilize the innings, but their efforts were insufficient, as Mumbai lost by 36 runs. The MI captain only scored 11 runs off 17 balls due to his poor batting performance.

The Indian Premier League Governing Council has fined Hardik Pandya ₹12 lakh. According to the IPL's Code of Conduct, this is his first minimum over-rate infraction of the season. The league confirmed the penalty in an official statement.

BCCI punishes Pandya

"Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during Match No. 9 of the TATA IPL 2025 against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. 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,” the IPL statement read.

Notably, the all-rounder missed the Mumbai Indians' IPL 2025 opener against the Chennai Super Kings because of the same problem. Pandya received a fine and a one-match suspension for MI's third slow over-rate offense against the Lucknow Super Giants in their final league encounter of the 2024 Indian Premier League.

No ban for the captains

However, the regulation that banned captains for repeated slow over-rate infractions was lifted before the 2025 Indian Premier League.

The Mumbai Indians, led by Pandya, have lost both of their initial games and have yet to record a victory this season. On Monday, March 31, they will play the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai.

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