Hardik banned for MI's slow over rate, will miss first game next season

Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been banned for one match for his team's slow over rate against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium. MI have already played their last match of IPL 2024, which means Hardik will miss the team's first match next season.

In case Hardik moves to another team for the next season, he will miss that particular team's first game.

It was the third time this IPL that MI failed to maintain a minimum over rate. As a result, Hardik, apart from the one-match ban, was fined INR 30 lakhs and the rest of the playing XII, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either INR 12 lakhs or 50% of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser.

It was a forgettable season for both MI and Hardik. The 18-run defeat to LSG meant MI finished with just four wins from their 14 games and finished at the bottom of the points table. Hardik, who had come in as a pre-season trade and had taken over captaincy from Rohit Sharma, was booed by the Wankhede crowd throughout the tournament. On the field, he scored 216 runs at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate of 143.04. With the ball, he took 11 wickets at an economy of 10.75.

Mark Boucher, MI head coach, also admitted that the off-field noise might have "clouded" Hardik and played a part in the team's "below-par" performance.