Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during MI's four-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 65 of IPL 2026 at the Eden Gardens.
In an official media advisory released on Thursday, the BCCI confirmed that Hardik committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 of the IPL's Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, which relates to the “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match.”
The incident took place during KKR's chase on the fourth ball of the 10th over on Wednesday. According to the BCCI statement, Hardik “while walking back to his run-up, knocked the bails of the wicket with force.”
During that over, MI had put down a major chance in the deep after Rovman Powell top-edged a pull shot off Hardik, only for Robin Minz and Deepak Chahar to hesitate and allow the ball to fall safely between them.
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Here's a look at that dropped catch which seemingly triggered the MI captain.
The missed opportunity immediately hurt MI as Manish Pandey struck Hardik for back-to-back boundaries in the next two deliveries. Pandey first cut a wide delivery through backward point before following it up with a straight boundary down the ground.
Following the second boundary, Hardik then knocked the bails off the stumps with force while walking back to his run-up.
The MI skipper admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Rajiv Seth.
The disciplinary action came during a frustrating evening for MI. Batting first after KKR opted to bowl, Mumbai struggled throughout the innings and eventually posted 147/8 in 20 overs. Hardik managed 26 off 27 balls before being bowled by Sunil Narine while attempting to accelerate in the middle overs.
KKR chased down the target comfortably, with seven balls to spare. Hardik, who had returned to the playing XI after missing Mumbai's previous three matches through injury, bowled just two overs, finishing wicketless while giving away 13 runs.
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