IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya fined 10% of his match fee for ‘abuse of cricket equipment’

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya was on Thursday fined 10% of his match fee and handed one demerit point for the breach of Level 1 of IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials during the IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Kolkata on Wednesday.

“Hardik Pandya was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which pertains to 'abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings' during a match,” an IPL statement read.

The incident took place in the fourth ball of the 10th over of Kolkata Knight Riders' chase.

Hardik Pandya was bowling the over, and while walking back to his run-up, he angrily knocked the bails off. “Hardik Pandya admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by Match Referee - Rajiv Seth,” the statement added.

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss in the rain-marred contest and opted to field first. Mumbai Indians lost four quick wickets inside the power play and were restricted to 46/4 during this phase.

Tilak Varma (20), Suryakumar Yadav (15) and Hardik Pandya (26) played crucial cameos, and Corbin Bosch scored an unbeaten 32 from 18 balls. Mumbai Indians eventually posted 147/8 from 20 overs.

However, that total wasn't safe at all, and despite a few hiccups initially, Kolkata Knight Riders sealed the chase with four wickets to spare and kept their playoff hopes alive.

After the match, Hardik Pandya felt that the Mumbai Indians were 20 runs short. "Definitely, as a batting group, we were 20 short. I think we lost a lot of wickets in the power play, but if Tilak and I had stayed longer, and we had stitched a couple of more partnerships and got those 15-20 runs, I think we would have had a decent chance," he said.

Hardik Pandya, who played for the Mumbai Indians from 2015 to 2021, moved to the Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2022 and led them to their first title that season. He returned to the Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024 and took over as captain from Rohit Sharma. However, Hardik received a hostile reception from fans, who even booed him whenever he walked out for the toss.

Mumbai Indians finished 10th in IPL 2024 and were knocked out in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025 after losing to Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Mumbai Indians were already knocked out of the tournament. The five-time champions are currently languishing in ninth place with eight points from 13 matches. They will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their last match on Sunday.