Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad became the third skipper to be found guilty of breaching the IPL Code of Conduct in the ongoing 19th season of the league. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) showed no leniency towards the Chennai captain, despite the team securing its first win in four matches this season against Delhi Capitals on Saturday at Chepauk.
Gaikwad was fined after CSK maintained a slow over-rate during the match. Since it was the team’s first offence under Article 2.22 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate violations, he was fined INR 12 lakh.
IPL 2026 has already seen multiple such instances in the opening 17 matches, with Shreyas Iyer found guilty on two occasions. He was the first offender of the season after Punjab Kings maintained a slow over-rate against Gujarat Titans in New Chandigarh on March 31. He breached the code again in the very next game against Chennai on April 2, and since it was a second offence, Iyer was fined INR 24 lakh.
Shubman Gill, captain of Gujarat Titans, was the other offender, found guilty during the match against Delhi Capitals on April 8.
Nitish Rana not spared
The BCCI announced another sanction on Sunday, with Delhi Capitals batter Nitish Rana penalised for clashing with the umpire during the match against CSK. The incident occurred after the match official did not allow his teammate Tristan Stubbs to change his gloves in the 19th over, following which he lost his wicket.
Rana was fined 25 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL Code of Conduct.
He was found to have violated Article 2.3, which relates to the “use of an audible obscenity during a match.” Rana admitted the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction.
Chennai’s first win in IPL 2026
The five-time champions finally opened their account on Saturday with a 23-run win against Delhi Capitals. After three silent outings, Sanju Samson rediscovered his batting range as he smashed a fabulous 115 not out, while forging a 113-run stand for the second wicket with Ayush Mhatre as CSK posted a competitive 212 for two and the Delhi Capitals stumbled against Jamie Overton’s superb spell (4/18) to get bundled out for 189.
While it was the super Kings’ first win of the season, the Capitals slumped to their second defeat in a row.
