Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya's issues increased tenfold even as the five-time champions lost their final group game of IPL 2024 on Friday to the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium. Due to slow over-rate, the 30-year-old has been fined and will miss the first game of the 2025 IPL edition.
It was also Pandya's 3rd over-rate offence of the season, resulting in a one-match ban and a fine of ₹30 lakh. The remaining players of the XII, including the impact player, were individually subject to a fine of ₹12 lakh or 50% of their respective match fees, whichever is lower. With Mumbai Indians already playing their final game of IPL 2024, he will miss the opening fixture of the following edition.
Both Mumbai and Pandya had a forgettable outing in IPL 2024, with the five-time champions finishing at the bottom of the points table. The Baroda-born cricketer finished with 216 runs in 14 matches at 18. He faired slightly better with the ball, picking up 11 scalps.
"Never nice to go through something like that" - Mark Boucher on crowd booing Hardik Pandya
With crowd in the stadiums giving Hardik Pandya a hostile reception throughout the season, head coach Mark Boucher admitted that it wasn't nice to see the all-rounder go through it and promised an evaluation of their performances. He said at the press conference:
"It wasn't great hearing all the boos. Certainly, I felt sorry for Hardik as well. It's never nice to go through something like that. So yeah, there are certain things we need to address. And we are going to address them. Now is not probably the right time. Everyone is very disappointed and emotional, so no good decision will get made in the nearest sort of time. We need to go back. We need to evaluate exactly what's going on."
Rohit Sharma's 38-ball 68 was the brightest spot for the Mumbai Indians from the game against LSG.
