IPL 2026: Hardik Pandya penalized for this reason
What's the story
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has been fined for violating the Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct. The penalty comes after MI's four-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2026 at Eden Gardens. The official IPL statement confirmed that Pandya breached Level 1 of the Code of Conduct relating to abuse of cricket equipment and ground fixtures.
Fine
Details of his fine
Hardik was found guilty of breaching Level 1 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. The league said he "knocked the bails of the wicket with force while walking back to his run-up." This incident occurred on the fourth ball of the 10th over in KKR's innings, when they were chasing a target of 148 runs. Apart from docking his match fee, Hardik has also been given a demerit point. He has accepted his offense and agreed to the sanction imposed by Match Referee Rajiv Seth.
Admission
MI's poor show this season
After the match, Hardik admitted that MI's batting and fielding failures have haunted them this season. "Definitely as a batting group, we were 20 runs short," he said. "I think throughout the season, we've been quite poor in fielding. We have dropped a lot of catches. If you want to win games, you need to grab all the chances, even half chances as well."
Team status
Hardik's future as MI captain remains uncertain
MI have won only four of their 13 games this season. Their remaining match is against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Hardik, who returned after missing matches due to an injury, had a woeful season as a player. He has scored just 172 runs from nine games with a strike rate of 128.35. Hardik has taken just four wickets at 64.75. His future as skipper remains uncertain after a string of poor performances since returning to Mumbai in 2024.