Kohli fined after high-octane IPL clash

Wednesday, 19 April 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NEW DELHI, AFP: Indian cricket star Virat Kohli was fined Tuesday for breaching the IPL code of conduct, after his side Royal Challengers Bangalore went down to Chennai in a nail-biting match.

Kohli’s wild celebration of Chennai batsman Shivam Dube’s wicket at a crucial point of the high-scoring game on Monday resulted in the sanction, according to media reports.

The fiery 34-year-old was fined 10% of his match fee after admitting to the offence, organisers said, without detailing what rule the batsman broke.

The tense match in front of a raucous capacity Bengaluru crowd witnessed a record-equalling 33 sixes and was finally won by Chennai Super Kings, led by M.S. Dhoni, by eight runs.

One of the best batsmen of the modern game, “King Kohli” has often run into trouble with his aggressive approach and no-holds-barred emotions on the cricket pitch.

He has had numerous run-ins with opposing players and was once reprimanded after hitting a plastic chair with a bat following his dismissal during an IPL match. He escaped a fine. According to media reports this week, Kohli has fallen out with India’s former cricket Chief Sourav Ganguly with the two men reportedly “unfollowing” each other on Instagram.

Kohli quit as Indian T20 skipper in late 2021 and in January 2022 was sacked from the one-day captaincy and gave up leading the Test side too after a reported fall-out with Ganguly.