Gambhir, Kohli fined for violating code of conduct

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir was fined 15 percent of his match fee for breaching the Indian Premier League Code of Conduct during his side’s five-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru on Monday.

The aggressive KKR skipper was found guilty of kicking the chair during his team’s run chase. Emotions overflowed from the Delhi batsman as he kicked the chair in his celebration when Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan took a heavy toll on RCB bowlers.

“Gautam Gambhir from the Kolkata Knight Riders team was fined 15 percent of his match fee for breaching the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru last evening,” the IPL statement read.

The statement by IPL further added that Gambhir was admitted to the level 1 offence, under which he was found to abuse the ground equipments.

“Gambhir admitted the Level 1 offence (Article 2.1.8) of abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match. For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” it added.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli had more to face after his side’s 5^th defeat of the season. Kohli was fined Rs.24 lakh after his team maintained a slow over rate during the match. This was Kohli’s second penalty for the same offence.

The rest of the team, too, had to face a 25 percent match fee deduction following the same reason.

“Since it was his second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate, Kohli was fined Rs. 24 lakh, while the rest of the team was fined Rs.6 lakh each or 25 percent of their match fee,” the statement read.