Virat Kohli Fined 50% Match Fees for Breaching IPL Code of Conduct During KKR vs RCB

Virat Kohli (left) was furious. (BCCI Photo)

Virat Kohli was fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) one-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

“Mr Virat Kohli, Batter, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during Match 36 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on April 21, 2024,” IPL said in a statement.

“Kohli committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.8 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct. He admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” the statement added.

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Kohli was left fuming when a new method applied to the ball tracking technology ruled him out on a full toss delivery that he thought went above his waist. The RCB opener had scored 18 runs from seven balls.

Kohli had stepped out to hammer Harshit Rana’s high full toss but ended up playing it back to the bowler who caught it. The umpire signalled for a review to check whether the ball was too high to be a legal delivery.

While the ball was Kohli’s waist when he played it, the tracker showed it dipping before it reached the crease. The ball’s estimated height in the crease was then compared to the height of the batter’s waist measured beforehand.

The ball’s projected height was found to be lower than Kohli’s waist, leading to the third umpire ruling him out. The former India captain was unhappy with the call and he let the on-field umpire know that before walking out.

“Virat and myself at that stage thought that possibly the ball was higher than his waist,” Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis, who was at the non-striker end, said.

“In those situations, you’ll always have one team that’s happy and one team that doesn’t feel like it’s quite the right decision. But that’s just how the game works.”

RCB are bottom of the IPL 2024 table after losing six matches straight and visit Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.

(With inputs from Agencies)