Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during MI’s four-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Pandya was penalised for “abuse of cricket equipment” after forcefully knocking the bails off the stumps while walking back to his run-up during the 10th over of KKR’s chase in the IPL 2026 clash.
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In a statement, the IPL confirmed that the Mumbai Indians skipper had breached Article 2.2 of the tournament’s Code of Conduct, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match.”
“The incident occurred on the fourth ball of the 10th over of the second innings of the match, when Hardik Pandya, while walking back to his run-up, knocked the bails of the wicket with force,” the statement said.
Pandya admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Rajiv Seth. Under IPL regulations, a player accumulating between four and seven demerit points faces a one-match suspension.
It capped another frustrating evening for Mumbai Indians, whose disappointing IPL 2026 campaign continued with yet another defeat. Chasing a modest 148-run target, KKR got home with seven balls to spare to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Pandya endured a quiet outing with the ball, returning wicketless figures of 0 for 13 from his two overs, before reflecting on MI’s recurring struggles this season.
“Definitely as a batting group, we were 20 runs short. We lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay, but if Tilak and I had stayed longer and stitched together a couple of partnerships, we could have added those 15-20 extra runs,” Pandya said after the match.
The MI captain also pointed to poor fielding standards as a major reason behind their forgettable campaign.
“Throughout the season, we’ve been quite poor in fielding. We’ve dropped a lot of catches. If you want to win games, you need to grab all the chances, even half chances. When you drop opportunities that can change the game, you are always chasing the game,” he added.
Despite the defeat, Pandya welcomed the nature of the Eden Gardens pitch, saying it offered a fair contest between bat and ball in an increasingly batting-heavy IPL.
“To be very honest, I don’t mind playing on these kinds of wickets where bowlers have something to work with. IPL is becoming very batting-dominated and bowlers are feeling helpless. Today’s game gave bowlers something as well, and I enjoyed that,” Pandya said.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have already been knocked out of playoff contention after managing only four wins in a disappointing season. They will play their final match of IPL 2026 against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
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Source: India Today
