Punjab Kings’ skipper Sam Curran and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Faf du Plessis were penalized for breaching different aspects of the code of conduct during their matches against Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, on Sunday, April 21st.
Faf was fined ₹12 lakh due to RCB’s slow over rate during their narrow loss to KKR at Eden Gardens, marking their first such offense in the IPL 2024 season. Curran was fined 50% of his match fees for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision against GT in accordance with Article 2.8 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct.
An official statement from the IPL confirmed that the Punjab Kings skipper acknowledged the offense and agreed to the penalty. Unfortunately, both du Plessis and Curran ended up on the losing side of tightly contested matches, adding to their troubles.
Punjab Kings experienced their sixth loss out of eight games, keeping them second from the bottom on the points table. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered their sixth consecutive defeat, leaving them at the bottom of the standings with only one win in eight matches.
Curran and Faf stayed positive despite tough losses
Despite facing narrow defeats that put both teams on the verge of elimination, Sam Curran and Faf du Plessis commended their players for their efforts in the matches against GT and KKR on April 21st.
Curran expressed disappointment in his team’s batting performance, as they only managed to score 142 runs in their 20 overs.
However, the PBKS captain applauded the bowlers for their resilient comeback, which nearly led to a victory before Rahul Tewatia’s quickfire 36 off 18 balls helped GT secure a three-wicket win.
“I think so (we were 10-15 short). The effort with the ball was incredible, the commitment and fight was amazing, but it was not enough,” said Curran at the post-match presentation.
Faf and his team turned the tables by showcasing an impressive batting performance despite conceding 222/6 to KKR in 20 overs.
With half-centuries from Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar, RCB stayed competitive and brought the required equation down to 3 runs from 2 balls. Unfortunately, a run-out on the final ball resulted in a one-run loss for them.
“The small things, I am actually proud of the boys tonight, the way we bowled and fielded, we did give away a couple of big overs towards the end, but I thought we kept them down to a par score.”
“We thought we’ll go hard in the batting powerplay, find those boundaries at the start of the innings. We were desperate, 10/10 from an effort perspective, the way we put up the effort in the ground, the faces told the story,” said Faf du Plessis at the presentation.
With crucial must-win matches ahead until the end of the league stage, RCB and PBKS find themselves in a challenging position regarding playoff qualification. RCB is scheduled to face SRH in their upcoming match on April 25th, while PBKS will take on KKR the following day.
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