The third Indian Premier League saw a sudden spurt in slow over rate cases with Mumbai Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar and his Delhi and Mohali counterparts Gautam Gambhir and Kumar Sangakkara incurring $20,000 fines each.

"Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Kumar Sangakkara have each been fined $20,000 for their teams maintaining slow over rates during their respective matches in Mumbai and Mohali yesterday," the IPL authorities said in a statement.

Tendulkar was fined after the Mumbai Indians were assessed to be two overs behind required rate during their four-run win against Rajasthan Royals at Brabourne Stadium yesterday.

Under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Tendulkar was fined $20,000 by match referee Andy Pycroft. In Mohali, both the Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils were found one over behind their required rate at the end of their match at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

As a result, Kings XI Punjab captain Sangakkara and Delhi Daredevils skipper Gambhir were fined $20,000 each by match referee Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly had incurred a similar fine for his team's slow over rate in

Friday's IPL opener against Deccan Chargers at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.