New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Tim David has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee and assessed two demerit points for violating Level 1 of the Indian Premier League Code of Conduct during Sunday's 2026 championship final against the Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium.

With the infraction, David has accumulated a total of five demerit points, triggering an automatic suspension that will sideline him for the opening match of the next IPL season, i.e., IPL 2027.

In an official statement released Monday, league organisers announced that David was determined to have violated Article 2.9 of the Code of Conduct. The regulation prohibits participants from throwing a ball or any piece of cricket gear, including items such as water bottles, at or near players, officials, umpires, or spectators in an inappropriate or hazardous manner.

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According to tournament officials, the disruption occurred during the 10th over of the initial innings when, following the dismissal of a batter, David forcefully hurled an ice pack toward umpire Nitin Menon.

"David was found to have breached Article 2.9 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which relates to "throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Team Official, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during a Match"," the IPL statement read. "The incident occurred during the 10th over of the first innings when, following the fall of a wicket, David threw an ice bag aggressively in the direction of umpire Nitin Menon."

David formally acknowledged the misconduct and accepted the disciplinary penalty issued by match referee Javagal Srinath.

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The incident represents David's third Level 1 violation over the course of the current campaign. He previously received one demerit point during Match 20 and an additional two demerit points during Match 54. The two points assessed from Sunday's final brought his aggregate total to five. Under governing league rules, reaching a five-point threshold mandates a single-game suspension.

"David admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by the Match Referee, Mr Javagal Srinath. This was David's third Level 1 offence of the season, having committed his first offence in Match 20 (one Demerit Point) and his second offence in Match 54 (two Demerit Points). He has now accumulated five Demerit Points, which result in a one-game suspension. Accordingly, he will be suspended for RCB's first game of the next IPL season or the first game of the franchise he represents in IPL 2027," the league confirmed.

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Despite the internal disciplinary matter, Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured their second consecutive IPL championship by defeating the Gujarat Titans by five wickets. With the victory, Bengaluru became just the third franchise in league history to execute a successful title defence, joining the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians.

The Rajat Patidar-led lineup limited Gujarat to a first-innings total of 155 for 8 before successfully completing the run chase with two full overs to spare, anchored by an unbeaten 75 runs off 42 deliveries from Virat Kohli.

With inputs from ANI