March 30, 2025: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has been fined INR 12 lakh for his team’s slow over-rate during their IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday night in Ahmedabad, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
This penalty came in MI’s second match of the season, which also marked their second consecutive defeat. It was Hardik’s first appearance of the season, as he had to serve a suspension during MI’s opening fixture for a similar offense from the last game of IPL 2024, where MI faced Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The suspension was a result of MI’s slow over-rate, which has been a recurring issue.
However, the team and Hardik managed to avoid a harsher penalty this time. The IPL has recently removed the rule that mandated bans for repeated over-rate violations, opting instead for monetary fines and in-game field restrictions. This fine, which was the first slow over-rate penalty of IPL 2025, was issued after the ninth match of the season.
MI, with their pace-heavy attack consisting of Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, and Hardik himself, exceeded the allotted time to complete their overs, leading to the fine.