Mumbai Indians (MI) finally ended their dreadful IPL 2024 campaign under the newly appointed skipper Hardik Pandya with a loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. MI have finished at the bottom of the table for the second time in three years, with just four wins and ten losses.
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Pandya, who took over captaincy from Rohit Sharma at the start of the season, wasn't able to rally his troops during a difficult campaign. To make matters worse, Pandya was slammed with a ban and a fine for breaching the IPL code of conduct in the loss against LSG.
Why was Hardik Pandya banned, fined after MI vs LSG match?
In statement on Saturday morning, IPL stated that MI captain Hardik Pandya was fined for violating the IPL code of conduct, maintaining a slow over-rate for the third time this season.
Apart from a fine of Rs 30 lakhs for the skipper, he will be banned from playing the next IPL match, which means that Pandya will miss MI’s opening game of the 2025 season. Meanwhile, the rest of the team including the impact player were fined Rs 12 lakhs.
A similar incident had occurred in the IPL earlier, when Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant was banned and fined by IPL for maintaining a slow over-rate thrice. Pant was banned for the important game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which they eventually lost at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
READ MORE: 'Whole season went wrong for MI' - Hardik Pandya on leading MI to bottom place
What's next for Mumbai Indians?
Given the poor end to the campaign and the on-going tension in the camp, the franchise should firstly clear the air among the players in the dressing room and work on preparing them as a tight-knit unit.
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The Sharma-Pandya saga has had a devastating effect on the franchise and has played a part in their bottom place finish to the season. The team will need to regroup and bounce back stronger in the 2025 edition.
We have seen the five-time champions bouncing back time and time before, and fans will be hoping that their beloved franchise can do the same once again.
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