Hardik Pandya has been fined Rs 12 lakhs for breaching the IPL code of conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences after Mumbai Indians picked up their third win of the ongoing IPL 2024 season.
Mumbai maintained a slow over-rate during their clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh and hence the Mumbai captain has been penalised for the same. Notably, this is the first time Hardik has been penalised for maintaining a slow over-rate in a game this season.
"As it was his team's first offence of the season under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Pandya was fined Rs 12 lakhs," the BCCI's release read.
However, Hardik won't mind the penalty much as his team registered a hard-fought win against Punjab Kings on Thursday (April 18). While Hardik didn't really manage to contribute much with the willow or the ball in hand, he held his nerves as skipper and his bowling changes did the trick for Mumbai in the end.
The Mumbai Indians captain acknowledged that his team got tested in the game and also lauded Ashutosh Sharma of Punjab Kings for nearly taking the game away from them.
"Very good game. Everyone's nerves got tested. We spoke that the characters will be checked in this game. But natural you think you are ahead but you know IPL has a tendency to show that oppositions can come back and how!" Hardik said during the post-match presentation.
"Unbelievable, playing the way he (Ashutosh) did and hitting the ball off the middle. Great for his future. We did speak in the timeout about it is not about how we look, we will keep fighting. Make sure we don't ball the soft balls. Batsmen played good shots but we were soft in certain overs," he added.
