
Samira Vishwas
Tezzbuzz|13-04-2026
Tim David, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter, was punished by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday for his behaviour during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on April 12. The right-handed batter’s tussle with the on-field umpires has not gone down well with the match referee, and hence a certain percentage of his match fees has been docked.
The 30-year-old has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees for not obeying the instructions of the umpires.
The RCB batter was found guilty of breaching Article 2.4 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which relates to “disobeying an umpire’s instruction during a match.” Apart from 25 per cent match fees being docked, David was also given one demerit point. David admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction“David has been fined 25% of his match fee and 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 official IPL release stated.The Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has also been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate. Considering how this was the Mumbai Indians’ first offence of the IPL 2026 season, the all-rounder was fined INR 12 lakhs. The fixture between Mumbai and Bengaluru lasted for 4 hours and 22 minutes, making it the longest match of the IPL 2026 season. While Pandya has been fined, no action was taken on RCB skipper Rajat Patidar.
In the fixture against the Mumbai Indians, David was involved in a tussle with the on-field umpires, Virender Sharma and Swaroopanand Kannur, during RCB’s batting innings.
The incident happened in the 18th over after the right-hander smashed a six off the bowling of Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya. The sheer distance of the maximum led the umpires to call for a ball change.The fresh box of balls came out, and as soon as the umpires narrowed down on one, David started to play around with it. He launched into an investigation of his own, laughing as he went.
The officials then asked him to hand the ball over, but he held on, continuing to toy with it.The umpires got further irritated, and he eventually returned the ball after Virender Sharma issued a stern warning to the big-hitting Australian batter. The flashpoint has led to severe criticism coming David’s way, with many pundits calling out his antics and behaviour.
Speaking of the game between MI and RCB, the latter came out on top after winning by 18 runs. Hardik won the toss and opted to bowl first. RCB then posted 240/4 owing to half-centuries by Virat Kohli, Phil Salt and Rajat Patidar.
David himself chipped in with an unbeaten 34-run knock off 16 balls.Mumbai Indians failed to chase the total down after being restricted to 222. Sherfane Rutherford tried his best with an unbeaten 71, but in the end, the total proved a bridge too far for the five-time champions.
RCB will next take on the Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday, while Mumbai will square off against the Punjab Kings on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium.




