Mumbai: Hardik Pandya’s dream return to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 ended on a disappointing note after he faced a one-match suspension for slow over-rate against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday. Mumbai Indians also lost the game by 18 runs as the five-time champions conceded 10th defeat of the season. That means Pandya won’t be able to take the field in Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2025 opener.
Besides the suspension, Pandya was also fined Rs 30 lakh. “As it was his team’s third offense of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offenses, Pandya was fined Rs. 30 lakh and banned from playing the team’s next match,” the IPL statement read.
Besides Pandya, all the players in Mumbai Indians’ playing XI, including the Impact Player, were fined either Rs 12 lakh or 50 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lower. “The rest of the members of the playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either Rs.12 lakh or 50 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Pandya became the second captain and third player overall to be handed a one-match suspension. Before Pandya, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant also faced a one-match suspension. Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Harshit Rana too served a one-match ban.
As far as the game is concerned, aided by a 109-run partnership between skipper KL Rahul (55 off 41 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (75 off 29 balls), LSG scored a commendable 214/6. The visitors then struck at regular intervals to stop Mumbai Indians at 196/6 despite Rohit Sharma’s 68 off 38 deliveries and Naman Dhir’s reargaurd 62 off 28 balls.
Earlier, Rahul first steadied the innings with Marucs Stoinis (28) after the fall of his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal for a duck and then stitched a century stand with West Indian Pooran, who clobbered eight maximums and five boundaries. Spinner Piyush Chawla (3/29) and Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thusara (3/28) emerged the most successful Mumbai Indians bowlers, grabbing three wickets each. Mumbai Indians thus finish last in the 10-team table with only 8 points from 14 games.
