RCB star fined for throwing bag of ice towards umpire during IPL final; awarded a one-match suspension

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batsman Tim David has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee and suspended for one match after violating the IPL Code of Conduct during RCB’s five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.David, who scored 24 runs off 17 balls in the final, was found guilty of breaching Article 2.9 of the Code of Conduct, which refers to “throwing the ball (or any other cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at a player, team official, umpire, umpire or any other third person during a match in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner.”The incident took place during the 10th innings of Gujarat Titans. After the goal fell, David threw a bag of ice towards umpire Nitin Menon. Match referee Javagal Srinath imposed the penalty after David admitted the offense and accepted the penalty.It was David’s third Level 1 offense of the season. He had previously earned one fault point in game 20 and two fault points in game 54. He added two more fault points on the last offense to bring his total to five.Under IPL rules, a player who collects five demerit points will receive a one-match suspension. As a result, David will miss the opening match of IPL 2027 whether he plays for RCB or another franchise next season.The Australian batsman finished IPL 2026 with 305 runs from 16 matches and was part of the RCB side that successfully defended their title.RCB’s win over Gujarat Titans made them only the third team in IPL history to retain the trophy after Chennai Super Kings (2010 and 2011) and Mumbai Indians (2019 and 2020). The Bengaluru franchise also became the fourth team to win multiple IPL titles, joining Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, who have won five titles each, and Kolkata Knight Riders, who have won three.RCB captain Rajat Patidar also entered the record books by becoming the first captain to win the IPL in each of his first two seasons as captain. After MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, he is only the third captain to clinch back-to-back IPL titles.