Hefty penalties earn IPL a tidy sum but fail to act as deterrents

May 21, 2023, 10:20 IST

The spat, which started as an exchange of verbals between Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq during the match at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow escalated into a full-fledged altercation with Gambhir and his former Delhi Ranji teammate Virat Kohli coming face to face and needed to be pulled away by LSG skipper K.L Rahul and some other players.

In the end, though there was no spillage of blood on the ground, the confrontation between two of Indian cricket's greats left a bitter aftertaste for many fans and IPL stakeholders.

As a result of that flagrant confrontation, the most controversial and ugliest incident witnessed this season in IPL, the cash-rich T20 league's Governing Council handed the players hefty fines -- both Kohli and Gambhir were docked 100 percent of their match fee while Naveen-ul-Haq was fined 50 percent of his fee.

That fine amount -- 100 percent of the match fee for Kohli will come to INR 1.07 crore approx -- along with a fine of 10 percent match fees for Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 in RCB's match against CSK (Match 24) and another penalty (Rs 24 lakh) copped for slow over-rate when he led the squad in the absence of RCB skipper Faf du Plessis makes Virat Kohli the player to make the highest penalty payment this season.

Though it is altogether another matter that all this money will be paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kohli will not suffer any major monetary loss.

Nevertheless, these disciplinary actions so far have earned the IPL a tidy sum.

Just like the hefty salaries that they earn by playing in the league, players have to cope with massive monetary penalties for breach of various clauses of the IPL Code of Conduct.

The penalty amount is not fixed and could range from a few thousand, in case of an uncapped or U-19 player -- the minimum wage earners who get picked in the auction for Rs 20 lakh -- to a crore-plus in case of a mega star being docked 100 percent of his match fee.

Most commonly the fines are levied for Level 1 and Level 2 offences under the IPL Code of Conduct, besides the captain and the team incur penalties for not completing their quota of overs in the stipulated scheduled time -- the team falling short by an over or more.

In case of a first offence, the captain of the team that fails to complete its quota of overs in the stipulated time is fined Rs 12 lakh. In case of a second offence, the captain is handed a fine of Rs 24 lakh while each member of the playing XI and the Impact Player is fined INR 6 lakh (or 25 percent match fees, whichever is less).

In case of breach of the Code of Conduct clauses related to other offences, the fine levied depends on the match fee of that particular player as the amount docked ranges from 10 per cent of the match fee -- for Level I offences -- to 100 per cent depending on the severity of the breach of the code.

Level 1 offences under the IPL Code of Conduct usually relate to abuse of cricket equipment or clothing or ground fixtures and fittings; showing dissent at an umpire's decision by action or verbal abuse; using language that is obscene, offensive, or insulting and/or the making of an obscene gesture and engaging in excessive appealing or point or gesture towards the pavilion/dressing room sheds in an aggressive manner, or to behave aggressively or derisively towards either batter, upon the dismissal of a batter. Such offences result in the player concerned being fined 10 per cent of their match fee.

The percentage of the match fee docked rises based on the severity of the offence or recurrence of the misdeed and therefore could be as high as Rs 1 crore-plus in case a player with a total bid price/salary of say Rs 15 crore is docked 100 per cent of his match fee.

In the 2023 season, the IPL by the end of Match No 65 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) witnessed nine incidents of breach of over-rate clause. Captains of two teams -- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- had to pay Rs 24 lakh each for they twice failed to bowl their 20 overs in the requisite time limit.

In case of a second offence, each member of the team along with the Impact Player was also fined Rs 6 lakh or 25 percent of their respective match fee or whichever is lower.

Besides, collecting fines from franchises for taking extra time for bowling the required 20 overs, the IPL also penalised players for other breaches of the code of conduct.

In all, there were eight such incidents of breach of the IPL Code of Conduct this season in which players were docked from 10 percent of their match fee for minor offences to 100 percent in the case of Gambhir and Kohli and 50 percent in the case of Naveen-ul-Haq. Besides these, there are some minor offences for which the players have been let off with a warning or reprimand.

Besides Kohli, Gambhir, and Naveen-ul-Haq, KKR skipper Nitesh Rana was fined 25 percent of his match fee for a Level 2 offence while also being docked Rs 12 lakh for slow overrate and Rs 24 lakh for failing to complete their quota of overs in time.

However, it is also a fact that these monetary levies imposed by the IPL Governing Council on the players for breach of the Code of Conduct are not serving their intended purpose because it is the cash-rich franchises that end up paying the amount when the IPL Governing Council raises an invoice for the total penalties incurred by the team at the end of the season.

Thus they are not serving as a deterrent for the players and someone like Kohli can be a repeat offender as he does not have to pay the penalty.

The players can go on to be indisciplined, aggressive, and in-your-face with opponents with impunity!

Fines/penalties levied by the Indian Premier League (IPL) so far in the 2023 season:

IPL 2023 over-rate penalty

* Match 15, RCB v LSG: RCB captain Faf du Plessis fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 17, CSK v RR: RR captain Sanju Samson fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 18, PBKS v GT: GT captain Hardik Pandya fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 22, MI v KKR: MI captain Suryakumar Yadav fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 26, RR v LSG: LSG captain KL Rahul fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 32, RCB v RR: RCB captain fined Rs 24 lakh (second offence), each RCB player (including the Impact Player) fined Rs 6 lakh (or 25 per cent match fees, whichever is less)

* Match 34, SRH v DC: DC captain David Warner fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 53, KKR v PBKS: KKR captain Nitish Rana fined Rs 12 lakh

* Match 61, CSK v KKR: KKR captain Nitish Rana was fined Rs 24 lakh (second offence), each KKR player (including the Impact Player) fined Rs 6 lakh (or 25 per cent of match fees, whichever is less)

Updated until Match 65 (SRH v RCB)