Virat Kohli fined 50 per cent of match fees for IPL Code of Conduct breach

Virat Kohli (Pic: AFP)

Star batter Virat Kohli was on Monday fined half of his match fees for showing dissent towards umpire's decision during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2024 match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kohli was given out after the he was caught off a waist-height full-toss delivery Harshit Rana during RCB's one-run loss to KKR at the Eden Garden's on Sunday.

The Hawk-Eye system that measures no-balls for height came into play. The delivery, which seemed to be dipping on the batter, was just above the waist when he made contact with the ball.

The star batter, who made 18 off seven balls, was standing just outside the crease at that moment.

TV umpire Michael Gough checked for the height and as per the Hawk-Eye tracking, the ball would have passed Kohli's waist at a height of 0.92 meter had he was standing and upright at the crease.

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Kohli left the field an agitated man after having an animated discussion with the on-field umpire.

The frustrated Kohli knocked the waste-bin located near away team dressing room in anger.

"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," an IPL statement read.

"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.

A Level 1 offence under Article 2.8 of the IPL's Code of Conduct refers to "showing dissent at an umpire's decision".

"It's split opinion, we know that. From our point of view, we feel like we may have got away with one there. It's the rub of the greens, one of those calls," said KKR opener Phil Salt on Monday.

The Englishman further said leveraging technology in this manner is ultimately beneficial for the game as he hinted at the possibility of a future review to assess the effectiveness of these technological advancements.

"They brought that data in, the no-ball data, for exactly that purpose. I feel like in 12 months' time maybe there'll be some sort of review. Is it working? Is it not working? Is it a new thing to the game? But personally, from a player's point of view, any time you're using data and technology to be more precise and get the right decisions, that's a good thing for the game," Salt added.

(With agency inputs)