Mumbai Indians star banned from the first match of IPL 2025

In a recent development coming in, a Mumbai Indians (MI) star will miss their opening game of the next Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season after being found guilty of an on-field offence. It is none other than the team skipper Hardik Pandya, who will have to pay the consequences now. 

Playing their last league stage match of IPL 2024 last night (May 17) against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Pandya's team maintained a slow over rate following which he was also fined.

Incidentally, this was the third team in the ongoing season when Hardik Pandya's side has been found guilty of the same offence. Abiding by the rules, the premier all-rounder has now been slapped with a one-match ban, similar to the one handed out a few days back to Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant.

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Hardik Pandya's ban to carry forward to next season

Since the Mumbai Indians are already eliminated from the tournament and last night's game was their final league match, Hardik's ban will now be extended to IPL 2025.

Regardless of which team Hardik joins following the mega auction prior to IPL 2025, the ban will still apply. The rest of the team has been fined INR 12 lakhs or 50% of their match fee, whichever amount is lower.

It hasn't been the best of seasons for Hardik, not only captaincy-wise but also based on his own performances.

Hardik had a challenging season in his first year as the Mumbai Indians captain after rejoining the team. He averaged only 18 runs with the bat and managed just 11 wickets but more significantly, the five-time champions ended the season at the bottom of the points table being the only team not to reach double digits in their points tally.

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