The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday imposed a fine on Mumbai Indians’ (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya, and also handed him one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of conduct during the team’s clash with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday.

The cricket body took disciplinary action after Hardik was seen forcefully knocking down the bails while walking back to his bowling mark.

Pandya fined 10% of his match fee

As per the official statement released by the BCCI, Pandya was fined 10% of his match fee and was also awarded one Demerit point for committing a Level 1 offence under the IPL’s code of conduct.

Notably, the incident took place during the 10th over of KKR’s innings. Hardik’s actions were found to be violating Article 2.2 of the IPL code, which pertains to abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match.

Although the punishment is not expected to result in a suspension, the demerit point shall remain on Pandya’s disciplinary record.

MI concede defeat to KKR

The controversy transpired during a disappointing outing for Mumbai Indians, who lost to KKR by four wickets. The loss dented MI’s campaign, while KKR stayed alive in the race for the IPL 2026 playoffs. Hardik reflected on MI’s defeat after the match and admitted that his team fell short with the bat. He also blamed poor fielding for adding pressure during the chase.

He said, “Definitely as a batting group, we were 20 runs short. We lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay. If Tilak and I had stayed longer and stitched a few more partnerships, we could have had a decent chance.”

He also shared his views on the condition of the pitch, saying that he appreciated surfaces offering assistance to bowlers in an increasingly batting-dominated IPL. He remarked, “I don’t mind playing on these kinds of wickets where bowlers have something to do. IPL is becoming very batting-dominated and the bowlers are feeling helpless.”