Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Virat Kohli was involved in a verbal spat with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir and players Naveen-ul-Haq and Kyle Mayers. Following the heated exchange, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 per cent of their match fee hours for Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct. Kohli’s fine was expected to be around Rs 1 crore but it seems like he would not have to pay it out of from his IPL earnings.
Kohli was set to lose around Rs 1 crore given that he will play at least 14 matches (league games) in the season excluding playoffs. Franchises have different rules about whether players pay the fine or not. In RCB’s case they are willing to pay it out of their pocket.
Players put their bodies on the line for the team and we respect that and as a culture we don't cut the fine from their salaries," an RCB source told Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, Gambhir’s earnings have not been disclosed by the LSG franchise. According to speculations, he was set to lose Rs 25 lakh. Even in his case, LSG are likely to pay the fine along with Naveen-ul-Haq who was fined 50 per cent of his match fee. The Afghan recruit was expected to lose in excess of Rs 1 lakh for the Level 1 offence.
As per regulations, the BCCI sends the invoice to all franchises at the end of the season which includes fines on all players. It is upto the franchise whether they want to pay the fines themselves or deduct the sum from players’ salary.
Meanwhile, few former cricketers have suggested suspensions instead of fines to ensure an incident like this does not take place in the future.
"So, my point, do something which will make sure, these things don't happen again. If it has to… you know, like it happened with Harbhajan and Sreesanth 10 years ago, that you have to ask them for maybe step aside for a couple of matches. Make sure you do something that ensure that these things don't happen and also something that will hurt the team. That's a stiff one," former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar had said.
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