Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya’s Thursday night turned a little sour in spite of his side’s six-wicket win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali. Pandya became the third captain this season to be fined Rs 12 lakh fine after Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson.


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Defending champions GT skipper Pandya was fined for maintaining a slow over-rate against PBKS after electing to bowl first on Thursday. Pandya was seen gesturing fielders to get into position quickly and forego celebrating wickets in the latter half of the PBKS innings.


“Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Punjab Kings at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on 13th April 2023,” a BCCI statement read.


“As it was his team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Mr. Pandya was fined Rs. 12 lakh,” the statement added.


For the second offence in a season, the captain of the bowling team will be fined 24 lakhs and the other 10 players will either be fined six lakhs or 25 per cent of their match fees, depending on which amount is lesser. For the third and each subsequent offence in a season, the captain of the bowling team will be fined 30 lakhs and will also be banned for one match. The other 10 players in the team will also be fined 12 lakhs or 50 per cent of their match fees, depending on which amount is lesser.



Meanwhile, Pandya wasn’t pleased with his batters although his side won the match to move to third place on the IPL 2023 Points Table. The GT all-rounder felt that the match shouldn’t have gone to the final over in the chase.


“To be very honest, I would not appreciate the game going this close from the situation we were in. There was definitely a lot for us to learn from this game. That’s the beauty of sports, it’s never over till it’s over. So we will go back to the drawing board. I think we can take a couple more risks in the middle overs,” Hardik Pandya said during the post-match presentation ceremony on Thursday night.


“It will be a tough pill to swallow, taking it this close. Not a big fan of taking the game to the last over,” said Hardik Pandya.