On Monday, April 17th, during a match against Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s leading player Virat Kohli was fined 10% of his match fees. The IPL issued a statement about the incident after the game, which RCB lost by eight runs in a thrilling encounter that same evening.
According to an IPL advisory, Virat Kohli, the batsman for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has been fined 10% of his match fee for violating the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The advisory also mentioned that Kohli accepted his mistake and confessed to committing a Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 of the IPL Code of Conduct.
It is believed that Kohli’s enthusiastic celebration of Shivam Dube’s dismissal may have led to the fine. Dube, a Chennai Super Kings batter, was caught by Mohammed Siraj in the deep during a pivotal moment of the match. With a score of 52 off 26 deliveries, Dube was posing a threat to Bangalore’s chances of victory before Wayne Parnell caught him in the deep.
Broadcasters captured Kohli celebrating the wicket with great enthusiasm, which may have led to his Level 1 offence and subsequent fine. In the previous IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Hrithik Shokeen also received a similar fine.
Despite a promising start, Kohli did not perform well personally against CSK. He hit a boundary against Akash Singh but was unlucky when the ball hit his bat and ricocheted onto the stumps, forcing him to return to the dugout in the first over of a 227-run chase. Following the match, RCB now holds the 7th position in the league table, while CSK has climbed to the third spot.