Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya will be missing the first match of Indian Premier League 2025 against Chennai Super Kings. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the schedule for the 18th edition of the Indian cash-rich league.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off the tournament against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, March 22. Rivals MI and CSK will play in the third match of the tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 23 in the evening while there is an afternoon game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals set to take place in the afternoon on March 23.
Hardik Pandya was handed one-match ban in IPL 2024
Hardik will not be part of MI’s season opener against CSK as he was handed a one-match ban in his team’s last game in IPL 2024 for slow-over rates. Mumbai locked horns against Lucknow Super Giants in their last league stage match of the tournament as they ended the season on the last spot.
Hardik was fined Rs 30 lakh and handed a one-match ban for MI’s third slow-over rate offence in the season. “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 lakhs and banned from playing the team’s next match. The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either INR 12 lakhs or 50 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser,” BCCI had said in the release last year.
Hardik was previously fined twice for slow-over rates. The all-rounder was penalized Rs 12 lakh for the first slow-over rate against Punjab Kings in the 33rd game of IPL 2024. The second offence occurred when MI failed to complete their overs within the stipulated time in their away fixture against LSG at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Due to his third offence, Hardik has faced a one-match ban. As MI had no further match in IPL 2024 after the third offence, his suspension has been carried into IPL 2025, where he will not be able to feature in the clash against Chennai Super Kings.
