Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya's IPL season ends with defeat and one-match suspension

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya’s IPL 2024 campaign concluded on a sour note as his team suffered their 10th defeat on Friday night.
Adding to the disappointment, Pandya has been banned from playing in his team’s next match after Mumbai Indians were found guilty of an over-rate offence during their final match of the season against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium.Pandya has also been fined Rs 30 lakh.
"As it was his team’s third offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Pandya was fined INR 30 lakh and banned from playing the team’s next match,” the IPL stated after LSG beat MI by 18 runs.

The rest of the MI playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each fined either Rs 12 lakh or 50 percent of their respective match fees, whichever was lesser.
Pandya is the second player to receive a one-match suspension in IPL 2024 for an over-rate offense.
Earlier this week, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant had to sit out from his team’s crucial match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru due to a similar suspension. Despite lodging an appeal against the ruling, citing various reasons for the delay, the decision was upheld.

Given that the match against LSG was MI’s last of the season, Pandya will likely miss the team’s opening match of the next season as part of his punishment.
It has been a nightmare season for the five-time champions, who managed to win only four of their 14 league matches, finishing at the bottom of the table. The team's struggles culminated in their final match, where they failed to chase down LSG’s target, ending their campaign on a disappointing note.