Hardik Pandya’s comeback match turns sour with another slow over-rate penalty

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya has been fined Rs 12 lakh after his team maintained a slow over rate in their Indian Premier League match against Gujarat Titans.

Five-time champions MI lost to GT by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.

“Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during Match No. 9 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad,” the IPL said in a statement on Sunday.

“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,” it added in the statement.

GT posted 196 runs on a black-soil pitch which was used in Ahmedabad for the clash and MI struggled in their chase to eventually finish at 160 for six, as Gujarat registered their first win of the ongoing campaign.

This was MI`s second successive loss and they are yet to open their account, while the Titans added two points to their tally. The Shubman Gill-led side continue their impeccable record of 4-0 against MI at Ahmedabad, improving their overall head-to-head record to 4-2.

GT openers Gill (38 in 27 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Sai Sudarshan put the team to a fine start with a 78-run stand. Another half-century stand came between Sudarshan and Jos Buttler (39 in 24 balls, with five fours and a six). Sudarshan played a solid knock of 63 in 41 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes. From 179/4, GT suffered a mini-collapse towards the end as they were restricted to 196/8 in 20 overs.

Pandya (2/29) was the pick of the bowlers for MI, while Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Satyanarayana Raju each took a wicket.

In the run chase of 197 runs, MI lost Rohit Sharma (8) and Ryan Rickelton early. However, Tilak Varma (39 in 36 balls, with three fours and a six) and Suryakumar Yadav (48 in 28 balls, with a four and four sixes) tried fighting it out for MI with a 62-run stand. Following their dismissal, MI lost their way and were restricted to 160/6 in 20 overs.

Prasidh Krishna (2/18) and Mohammed Siraj (2/34) were the top bowlers for GT. Kagiso Rabada and Sai Kishore also got a wicket each.

(With agency inputs)