IPL: 5 times cricketers were fined for on-field fights

4. Kieron Pollard vs Mitchell Starc (MI vs RCB, IPL 2014)

The Mumbai Indians faced Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 27th match of the IPL 2014 at the Wankhede Stadium. The Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and chose to bowl first. Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard got into a fight on the pitch during the 17th over of Mumbai’s innings.

Starc bowled a bouncer to Pollard in the fourth delivery of the 17th over, and he was beaten by pace as he tried to hook. Following the delivery, the speedster exchanged a few words with the former West Indies batter, who did not respond and waved him off. Pollard backed away and moved towards the leg side as Starc charged in to bowl the next delivery. The left-arm pacer, however, did not abort and instead fired the ball towards Pollard.

It enraged the batter, who swung the bat violently at the bowler. Pollard’s bat slipped from his grasp and landed near him. Then both Starc and Pollard were seen engaged in a verbal brawl. Both players committed level 2 violations of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, and match referee Andy Pycroft fined Pollard 75% and Starc 50% of their match fees.

In terms of the game, Mumbai scored 187 runs, with Rohit Sharma (59* runs off 35 balls) scoring a brilliant half-century. In response, the RCB could only muster 168 runs in 20 overs. For his magnificent knock, Rohit was named Player of the Match.

3. Ambati Rayudu vs Harshal Patel (RCB vs MI, IPL 2012)

In the 62nd match of the IPL 2012, Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Bangalore batted first and scored 171 runs in 20 overs, led by a magnificent knock from Mayank Agarwal (64 off 30 deliveries).

Mumbai were in trouble during the chase, losing five wickets for just 51 runs. Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard joined hands and knocked the wind out of the RCB bowlers with an unbeaten 122-run stand off  65 balls to take MI over the line just as things looked bleak for Harbhajan Singh and company.

While celebrating a thrilling win, Rayudu made some offensive comments about Harshal Patel, which enraged the right-arm pacer, who charged towards Rayudu before being stopped by Virat Kohli. For using obscene and abusive language, Ambati was fined 100% of his match fee, while Harshal was reprimanded and fined 25% of his match earnings.

2. Munaf Patel vs Nitin Saini (MI vs PBKS, IPL 2012)

In the 28th match of the IPL 2012, Mumbai Indians faced Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) at Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai batted first and scored 163 runs, led by James Franklin’s sensational half-century (79 runs off 51 deliveries).

Nitin Saini and Mandeep Singh opened the batting for Punjab. Nitin took Munaf Patel to the cleaners in the third over of the innings, hammering two fours. Munaf spoke with the wicketkeeper-batter at the end of the over, and the right-arm pacer was seen engaging in some verbal volleys.

The on-field umpires and then-MI captain Harbhajan Singh had to intervene after witnessing the altercation. Match referee Raju Mukherjee fined Munaf 50% of his match fee for making offensive gestures during the game. In the match, Shaun Marsh (68* runs off 40 deliveries) hit a magnificent half-century to lead Punjab to a six-wicket victory over Mumbai.

1. Harbhajan Singh vs S Sreesanth (KXIP vs MI, IPL 2008)

Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings) faced Mumbai Indians in the tenth match of the lucrative T20 tournament’s inaugural season. Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat with Yuvraj Singh and company. Kumar Sangakarra brought his A-game, scoring 94 runs off 56 deliveries to help Punjab reach 182 runs in 20 overs.

Following Sangakarra’s incredible knock, the Punjab bowlers showed their class by chipping in with wickets at regular intervals. As a result, Mumbai managed only 116 runs in 20 overs. However, after the game, as the players exchanged pleasantries, Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth.

Following the incident, then-IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi commented, “The match referee went through the video footage and found the incident was totally unprovoked.” Harbhajan was shaking hands with all Kings XI players shortly after the game, and Sreesanth was third among the players. Harbhajan slapped him instead of shaking hands and continued.”

Harbhajan was fined 100% of his match fee and barred from playing in the rest of the IPL 2008 season. Lalchand Rajput, the then-coach of the Mumbai Indians, was also docked 50% of his match fee because he witnessed the incident but did not take immediate action.