Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya could contribute very little with the bat during his team's IPL 2025 match against Delhi Capitals on Sunday evening. He faced four balls and managed just two runs before being dismissed by Vipraj Nigam.

But it was not his poor display with the bat that made news. The bone of contention was his bat, which brought to the fore a prevailing issue in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Hardik walked out to bat at No. 5 after the fall of Suryakumar Yadav at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. As the all-rounder headed towards the pitch to take strike, umpire Chris Gaffaney stopped him and used a bat gauge to check the size of Hardik's willow. The umpire wanted to check whether his bat could pass through the gauge. He passed the inspection without any hassle.

In IPL 2025, it was the third such instance of umpires intervening batters to check their bat's size. Earlier, the umpires gauged Shimron Hetmyer and Philip Salt’s bats during the match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Jaipur on Sunday afternoon.

As per the playing conditions of IPL, "The blade of the bat shall not exceed the following dimensions: Width: 4.25in / 10.8 cm, Depth: 2.64in / 6.7 cm, Edges: 1.56in / 4.0cm. Furthermore, it should also be able to pass through a bat gauge."

Hardik could not contribute much with the bat in the match. He has been going through a lean patch this season, scoring 83 runs from five matches with a highest score of 52. Mumbai Indians still managed to post 205 for 5 in 20 overs against Delhi Capitals, courtesy of contributions by Tilak Varma (59), Ryan Rickelton (41), Suryakumar Yadav (40), and Naman Dhir (38 not out).

Chasing the mammoth target, Delhi Capitals lost their opener Jake Fraser-McGurk on the first delivery of the match, with Deepak Chahar getting his wicket. DC, however, made a great recovery, with Abishek Porel (33 off 25) and Karun Nair (89 off 40) sharing a 118-run partnership.

But after the dismissals of Porel and Nair—by Karn Sharma and Mitchell Santner—DC suffered a collapse. They were eventually bowled out for 193 in 19 overs. Karn was the pick of MI bowlers, picking up 3 wickets for 36 runs in four overs to register their second win of the season. MI are currently at the seventh spot on the points table after six matches.

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