3 send offs that led to fines in IPL ft. Harshit Rana
The T20 format has often seen players go overboard with passion for their respective teams. In particular, the fast-paced nature of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the player's desire to do well in the cash-rich league is behind sledges and tussles.
Notably, the tussle between Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir and Mitchell Starc-Kieron Pollard are still fresh in fans' minds. Moreover, the players have often seen having a crack at the opposition players after their dismissals.
Over the years, there have been send-offs, that were deemed unfit, according to the IPL Code of Conduct, with recent one taking place in IPL 2024.
On that note, let's check out those players, who have breached the IPL Code of Conduct after their angry send-offs.
1) Hrithik Shokeen-Nitish Rana
In Match 22 of IPL 2023 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi domestic side teammates Hrithik Shokeen and Nitish Rana were involved in a verbal altercation.
The incident took place in the ninth over, when Shokeen (5 off 10) dismissed Rana through a caught-and-bowled dismissal. After the dismissal, Shokeen and Rana exchanged some words, while the batter was walking towards the dressing room.
Rana admitted to Level 1 Offence under Article 2.21, while Shokeen acknowledged Level 1 Offence under Article 2.5 under of the IPL Code of Conduct. As a result, Rana was fined 25 percent of his match fees, while Shokeen faced a penalty of 10 percent of his match fees.
2) Virat Kohli-Shivam Dube
The charismatic batter, Virat Kohli has always had an animated celebration after the team secures breakthroughs in crunch moments. The same was witnessed in IPL 2023, when Kohli was found to breach Article 2.2 of the IPL Code of Conduct.
On April 17, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were up against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The Super Kings started well and put the RCB bowlers under pressure. Coming in at No. 4, Shivam Dube was prolific with his ball-striking, while hitting sixes for fun. However, when Wayne Parnell got better of Dube (52 off 27) in the 17th over, Kohli was animated with his reaction and hurled angry words at Dube.
After RCB lost the game by eight runs, Kohli was fined 10 percent of his match fee.
3) Harshit Rana-Mayank Agarwal
On Saturday (March 23), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 3 of IPL 2024. Batting first, KKR posted a mammoth 208 on the board, courtesy of Andre Russell's 64* off 25.
In reply, SRH were off to a flyer with the opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma punishing the KKR bowlers.
However, the sixth over witnessed Harshit Rana firing an accurate bouncer to Agarwal. Although, the veteran batter managed to have a good connection, he was caught on the square-leg boundary by Rinku Singh. The breakthrough certainly pumped up Rana, who rubbed salt into Agarwal's wounds, by passing a flying kiss to Agarwal. In reply, Agarwal could only stare at Rana as he walked towards the pavilion.
Although Rana finished with figures of 3/33 and played a key role in KKR's win, he landed in hot water. The right-arm pacer was found to breach two Level 1 offences under Article 2.5 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. He was fined a total of 60 percent of his match fee, with 10 percent and 50 percent deductions for respective offences.