Virat Kohli has been fined 50% of his match fee for breaching the IPL code of conduct during RCB's match against KKR at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Although the IPL statement did not specify why Kohli was fined, it is likely to be related to his reaction to being dismissed for 18 off 7 balls in the third over of RCB's chase of 223.
Kohli was caught and bowled by a high full toss from Harshit Rana after playing the ball well outside his crease. It was a slower delivery that seemed to be dipping into the batsman, although it was above waist height when Kohli made contact with it. He felt the delivery should have been called a no-ball, but the new Hawk-Eye ball-tracking technology used to make such decisions ruled it a legal delivery.
According to the technology, the ball would have passed the batsman at 0.92 metres from the ground had Kohli been standing upright at the crease. The height of Kohli's waist was previously measured at 1.04 metres, meaning the ball would have passed below his waist had he been within his crease and not outside it, making it a legal delivery.
According to the 3rd umpire, Virat Kohli was outside his crease.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 21, 2024
- It's a fair delivery or a No Ball according to you? pic.twitter.com/GkESFX73Nj
Kohli was unhappy with the decision and was seen expressing his displeasure to the on-field umpire, along with non-striker Faf du Plessis, who also felt it should have been a no-ball on height.
To remove the subjective element from the no-ball decision above the waist, the IPL introduced technology this season to measure the height of the delivery as it passes the batsman at the crease. This is then compared to the toe-to-waist height of the batsman in an upright position, which is recorded in advance. If the height of the ball is greater than the recorded height of the batsman's waist, it is declared a no-ball. Otherwise, it's a fair delivery.
In this case, the projected trajectory of the delivery would have placed it 0.12 metres below Kohli's waist had he been standing upright in his crease.
RCB are bottom of the points table with just one win in eight matches after losing to KKR by a single run.