Rishabh Pant and Delhi Capitals incur heavy fines for second successive slow over rate breach in IPL 2024 season
Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant has been handed a staggering ₹24 lakh fine for maintaining a slow over rate in the team's mammoth 106-run loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday, April 3. The wicket-keeper was fined earlier with ₹12 lakh for the same offense following DC's win over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Apart from Pant, the rest of the DC playing members, including the impact sub, have been handed a fine of ₹6 lakh or 25 percent of their match fees, whichever is lesser.
DC were found to be three overs behind the over rate by the time the limit for completing the overs was up. As a result, Pant had to bring one fielder inside the circle as part of the on-field penalty.
"Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on April 3," BCCI's statement read.
"As it was his team’s second offense of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offenses, Pant was fined INR 24 lakhs. The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either INR 6 lakhs or 25 percent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser," the statement continued
It was a chaotic innings for Rishabh Pant to manage overall as KKR piled on a record score of 272-7 after opting to bat first.
"We were just all over the place" - Rishabh Pant
The DC skipper was at his destructive best with the bat, scoring his second fifty in a row, but the same could not be said for his performance as captain.
Pant was in the thick of things as he missed out on two reviews that could have dismissed Sunil Narine and Shreyas Iyer earlier, and his overall command over the game was also quite unflattering.
With only one win from their first four matches, DC are languishing near the bottom of the table.
"We were just all over the place (with the ball), we could have done better, and it is one of those days I feel. As a batting unit, we talked about going hard (after the target) and that's how we approach these games because it is better to be all-out trying to go for the total than not chase it down," Pant said during the post-match presentation.
It is to be noted that if DC are found in breach of the same offense for the third time in the ongoing season, skipper Pant will be fined ₹30 lakh and will also have to serve a match ban.
As far as the rest of the team is concerned, they will be imposed a fine of ₹12 lakh or 50 percent of their match fee, whichever is lesser.