Why IPL Has Punished Tim David After MI vs RCB Match - Explained
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Tim David has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees after taking too long to hand over the ball to the umpires during a match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday
- RCB star Tim David was fined 25% of match fees for delaying ball handover to umpires twice
- David breached IPL Code of Conduct Article 2.4 and received one Demerit Point
- Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya fined INR 12 lakh for slow over-rate
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Tim David has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees after taking too long to hand over the ball to the umpires during a match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. David was found to have breached Article 2.4 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which relates to "disobeying an umpire's instruction during a match." "He has also accumulated one Demerit Point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL's Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials during Match No. 20 against Mumbai Indians (MI)," an IPL statement said.
"The first incident occurred when the umpires changed the ball during the 18th over (17.2) of RCB's batting innings. He wanted to have a look at the ball and did not hand it over despite being repeatedly asked to do so. The second incident occurred during the 20th over (19.2), when he again did not hand over the ball to the umpires, amounting to a repeated failure to comply with the instructions or directives of the umpires."
As the video went viral on social media, fans demanded strict action against David, noting that a batter cannot toy around with the ball in such a manner.
Casual inspection from Tim David after absolute destruction #IPLRivalryWeek 2026 #MIvRCB | LIVE NOW https://t.co/gLbf9ggQbu | #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/OumaLMDlYF
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 12, 2026
David admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee's sanction.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has also been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate. As this was his team's first offence of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, he has been fined INR 12 lakh.
On Sunday, RCB edged past MI by 18 runs in a high-scoring IPL 2026 clash at the Wankhede Stadium, powered by a dominant batting display and timely breakthroughs with the ball.
Batting first, RCB produced a near-perfect innings, posting a daunting 240/4 on the back of explosive knocks from Phil Salt (78 off 36 balls), Virat Kohli (50 off 38), and skipper Rajat Patidar (53 off 20), followed by a late flourish from Tim David (34* off 16).
The target proved just out of reach as Mumbai finished at 222/5 in their 20 overs.
Hardik Pandya
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Mumbai Indians