Bad News for MI: Hardik Pandya Penalized with One-Match Ban

On Wednesday, Hardik Pandya, an all-rounder for Team India, reclaimed his position as the top all-rounder in the world according to the ICC T20I rating. However, before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season begins, the captain of the Mumbai Indians has some awful news to share.

As MI maintained a sluggish over-rate for their last IPL 2024 game against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai earlier this year, Hardik will miss the team’s IPL 2025 opener after serving a one-match suspension. Even if Hardik had joined a different team, he would still be unable to play in the first match of the upcoming season, the IPL 2025, because this was the season’s last match, under BCCI regulations.

Ban for Slow Over Rate in Last game

MI failed to sustain a minimum over-rate for the third time in IPL 2024. Hardik was thus fined Rs 30 lakhs in addition to the one-match suspension, while the other 12 players, including the “Impact Player,” were each fined Rs 12 lakhs or 50% of their respective match costs, whichever was lower.

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Under Hardik Pandya’s leadership, the Mumbai Indians had a disappointing season. MI concluded with just four victories from their 14 games and finished at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table after losing to LSG by 18 runs in their most recent game.

Throughout the tournament, the Wankhede crowd jeered Hardik, who had replaced Rohit Sharma as captain and had been brought in as a preseason trade. He amassed 216 runs on the field at a strike rate of 143.04 and an average of 18.00. He claimed 11 wickets with the ball at an economy rate of 10.75.

However, he was able to change the attitude of Indian cricket supporters by leading the team to victory with his game-winning effort in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final. Hardik has had a fantastic international season, particularly in T20 cricket. He has reclaimed his top spot as the world’s best T20I all-rounder because to his excellent performance in the four-match T20 series against South Africa, which India won 3-1.

For Rs 16.35 crore, the Mumbai Indians kept Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, while Rohit Sharma, the former captain, was kept for Rs 16.3 crore. Prior to the November 24 and 25 IPL 2025 major auction, world No. 3 T20I batter Tilak Varma was retained for Rs 8 crore, while pacer Jasprit Bumrah was retained for Rs 18 crore.