IPL 2020: RCB’s Virat Kohli fined INR 12 lakhs for slow over-rate

After a winning start to the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) slumped to a 97-run defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Virat Kohli, their captain, had a forgettable time, both as a player and as the skipper. To start with, the 31-year-old dropped KL Rahul as many as two times.

It cost RCB as Rahul slammed a 69-ball 132 with the help of 14 fours and seven sixes. The Punjab-based franchise posted a mammoth 206 on the board after which RCB were shot out for a paltry 109 in 17 overs. With the bat, Kohli managed a single, batting at number four. He mistimed a pull off Sheldon Cottrell and holed out to young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

Now adding insult to injury, the Delhi-born cricketer has been fined the minimum of INR 12 lakhs for breaching ICC’s Code of Conduct. As per India.com, the Challengers were found guilty of maintaining a slow over-rate in Dubai.

We know exactly where we went wrong: Virat Kohli

Following RCB’s loss, Kohli admitted that the dropped chances turned out to be critical in the context of the game. He said that had his team was set a target of around 180, RCB wouldn’t have been under extreme pressure.

“I have to stand in front and take the brunt of it, not the best day in the office, couple of important chances of KL when he was set and that cost us 35-40 runs at a later stage. Maybe if we restricted them to 180 we wouldn’t have been under pressure from ball one of the chase,” Kohli said after the match.

“We know exactly where we went wrong and I have to put my hand up and say a couple of important chances went down. There are days when these kinds of things happen on the cricket field, they happen and we have to accept them,” he added.

In the run-chase, Washington Sundar was their leading run-scorer with 30 runs off 27 balls. Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers scored in the 20s, but their efforts went in vain. In bowling, other than Yuzvendra Chahal, who had an economy of 6.25, all the regular bowlers were taken for runs.