After the thrilling victory of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru over the Mumbai Indians at Raipur, Tim David was seen to be flicking the middle finger towards the ground. It has been deemed to be a violation for showing an offensive gesture and he has been reportedly booked under Article 2.6. It is also reported that he will be penalized 30% of his match fees and he could be handed 2 demerit points as well. The gesture shown by Tim David is highly unprofessional for an experienced player like himself and he will have to keep his emotions under check.

This is not the first time Tim David will be booked for a violation as he was booked early on in the season against the Mumbai Indians itself. In that game, he was suspicious of the shape of the new ball that had been taken and he was seen to be checking the seam way too many times. David did not return the ball even on the second time of request from the officials. This time the reason for the provocation remains unknown but he will have to tread carefully from here.

Controversial fielding effort from Tilak-Naman at the boundary intensified tensions in the RCB dugout

Andy Flower was fined 15% of his applicable match fee for breaching Level 1 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team officials. He was booked for audible obscenity for his aggressive conversation with the fourth umpire in the 18th over. The most apt reason for the gesture of Tim David would be the same incident which heated up the RCB dugout in no time and almost every player was furious with that one moment.

There was a clear mix-up between Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir in the 18th over of the game where Naman Dhir caught the ball at the boundary rope and threw it back in for Tilak Varma. However, Tilak Varma did not attempt to catch the ball as he heard a noise which he thought was Naman’s boot touching the boundary rope but it wasn’t the case. There was a chance that RCB could get six runs off that ball but the umpires did not send it upstairs to check for a six. This infuriated the RCB dugout as Virat Kohli and Andy Flower were arguing with the umpire over the decision but with the replay of the incident, it was quite clear that it wasn’t a six.  

This could be the most appropriate reasoning for the obscene celebration from Tim David as there wasn’t anything else to suggest that there were errors from the officials. However, this would be a strict warning for the Aussie and he will have to be more cautious about his actions. RCB are right there at the bottom of the Fairplay Award and these incidents are enough to justify their position.