KKR vs MI: Hardik Pandya fined, handed a penalty for knocking down the bails

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was fined 10 per cent of his match fee and handed one point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during MI’s defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Pandya was penalized for “abuse of cricket equipment” after violently knocking the bails off the stumps while returning to his charge during the 10th over of KKR’s chase in the IPL 2026 clash.

KKR vs MI: Highlights | Scorecard

In a statement, the IPL confirmed that the Mumbai Indians captain had breached Article 2.2 of the tournament’s code of conduct, which deals with “misuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match”.

“The incident occurred on the fourth ball of the 10th over of the second innings of the match when Hardik Pandya, returning to his run-up, forcefully knocked down the bails on the wicket,” the statement read.

Pandya pleaded guilty to the offense and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Rajiv Seth. According to IPL rules, a player who collects four to seven demerit points faces a one-match suspension.

It capped off another frustrating evening for Mumbai Indians, whose disappointing IPL 2026 campaign continued with yet another defeat. Chasing a modest target of 148 runs, KKR got home with seven balls to spare to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Pandya endured a quiet outing with the ball, returning wicketless figures of 0 for 13 from his two overs, before reflecting on MI’s repeat struggles this season.

“Definitely we were 20 runs short as a batting group. We lost a lot of wickets in the overs, but if Tilak and I had stayed longer and stitched a few partnerships, we could have added those 15-20 more runs,” Pandya said after the match.

The MI captain also pointed out the poor fielding standards as the main reason for their forgettable campaign.

“We’ve been pretty bad in the field all season. We’ve dropped a lot of catches. If you want to win games, you have to take every chance, even half chances. When you throw away opportunities that can change the game, you’re always chasing the game,” he added.

Despite the defeat, Pandya welcomed the nature of the Eden Gardens pitch, saying it offered a fair contest between bat and ball in an increasingly tough IPL batting.

“To be very honest, I don’t mind playing on these types of wickets where the bowlers have something to work with. The IPL is becoming very batting dominant and the bowlers feel helpless. Today’s game also gave the bowlers something and I enjoyed that,” Pandya said.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have already been knocked out of play-off contention after managing just four wins in a disappointing season. They will play their last match of IPL 2026 against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.

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Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

21 May 2026 13:20 IST