Delhi Capitals appealed the suspension but the match referee’s decision was upheld by the BCCI ombudsman
Rishabh Pant will miss the match against RCB on Sunday • AFP/Getty Images
Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has been suspended for one match for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct after his team maintained a slow over-rate during the match against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi on May 7. It was Pant’s third over-rate penalty this IPL and, as a result, he will miss DC’s crucial fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. Both teams desperately need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Pant was also fined INR 30 lakh while the rest DC’s playing XI in that game, including the Impact Player, were fined either INR 12 lakh or 50% of their match fees, whichever is lower.
A BCCI release said DC filed an appeal challenging the ruling of the match referee, following which the issue was referred to the board’s ombudsman for review. The ombudsman conducted a virtual hearing and upheld the match referee’s decision. Along with Pant, DC’s director of cricket Sourav Ganguly, head coach Ricky Ponting and CEO Sunil Gupta were at the hearing.
In their appeal, DC cited multiple reasons for the delay, including that the RR batters had hit 13 sixes and that the Sanju Samson dismissal had consumed extra time. However, it was ruled that there was no statistical information submitted explaining exactly how much time was additionally consumed by these events.
Each team in the IPL is allowed 85 minutes (4.25 minutes per over) to complete their 20 overs. In the match against RR, DC took 117.82 minutes to complete their 20 overs, which was in violation of the minimum over-rate requirements under the Code of Conduct.
DC are among the eight teams fighting for playoffs qualification and will need to win their remaining fixtures – and have other results go their way – to be in contention. They are currently fifth on the table with 12 points and a net run rate of -0.316.
