Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya incurred the wrath of the Board of Control for Cricket in India-BCCI following a Code of Conduct breach during the IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings on Thursday. Pandya, leading the Mumbai franchise, failed to maintain the required over rate, resulting in a hefty fine of INR 12 lakh. Confirming the penalty, the BCCI stated, “Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their Indian Premier League-IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings.”
This marks Pandya’s first instance of falling short of the over-rate criteria, leading to the imposed fine. However, a recurrence of the offense could escalate consequences not only for Pandya but also for his Mumbai Indians teammates.
In the fiercely contested match, Mumbai Indians maintained their composure to clinch their third victory of the IPL 2024 season. Despite a formidable target of 193 runs set by Punjab Kings, the latter struggled to find stability in their batting innings.
The chase began on a shaky note for Punjab Kings as opener Prabhsimran Singh departed without troubling the scorers, followed by quick dismissals of Rossouw, Curran, and Livingstone. A brief partnership between Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Shashank Singh provided some respite for Punjab Kings, but regular wickets hampered their momentum.
Shashank Singh’s aggressive knock of 41 runs and Ashutosh Sharma’s blazing 61 off 28 balls injected hope into Punjab’s innings. However, despite their valiant efforts, Mumbai Indians’ bowlers managed to restrict Punjab Kings to 183 runs, securing victory in the final over.
