Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee and also accumulated one Demerit Point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials during the IPL 2026 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

“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,” the IPL said in a statement.

The incident occurred on the 4th ball of the 10th over of the second innings of the match, when Hardik, while walking back to his run-up, knocked the bails of the wicket with force.

“Hardik Pandya admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by Match Referee – Rajiv Seth,” it added.

Already eliminated from the playoffs race, MI suffered a four-wicket loss at the hands of KKR.

KKR seamers Cameron Green and Saurabh Dubey took out two MI batters each in the powerplay before their spin twins turned the screw in on a pitch with both seam movement and turna srhe visitors were restricted to 147/8.

On a surface that offered considerable assistance to both seamers and spinners, the hosts expertly chased down a tricky target of 148 with seven deliveries to spare thanks to an invaluable partnership between Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell while consigning the MI to another difficult defeat.

“I think we lost a lot of wickets in powerplay, but if Tilak and would have 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. To be very honest, I don’t mind playing on this sort of wickets where bowlers have something to do.

“IPL is becoming quite batting-dominated. Bowlers are feeling helpless. I think this game kind of gave bowlers something as well from the wicket, which kind of makes them come and bowl some good balls, make batsmen play some good cricket and score runs. So, I kind of enjoyed it,” said Hardik after the match.

The result has catapulted KKR to sixth on the points table, keeping their playoff aspirations firmly alive.

–IANS

bc/