Rohit Sharma fined 50% of his match fee for dissent after umpire did not give a wide

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has been fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpiring decision during the team’s Indian Premier League match against Rising Pune Supergiant on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium, reported PTI.

The incident occurred at a crucial juncture, when Mumbai needed 17 in the last over, which was bowled by Jaydev Unadkat. Mumbai were chasing 161 to win, and the previous over from Ben Stokes had given only seven runs.

On the first ball, Stokes took a brilliant catch in the deep to dismiss the hard-hitting Hardik Pandya, but the second was heaved over long-on for a six by Sharma. However, on the third delivery, having seen Sharma shuffle across the stumps, Unadkat pushed it wide. Sharma, realising that the ball was veering away from the guideline for wide deliveries, left it alone.

But umpire S Ravi did not call it a wide, presumably because the batsman had also moved. Disappointed with the decision, Sharma walked up to the umpire and protested. At one point, even the square-leg umpire A Nand Kishore intervened.

Sharma was caught-and-bowled by Unadkat on the very next ball, for a 39-ball 58, as the game tilted in Pune’s favour. Needing 11 off three balls, Mumbai ultimately went down by three runs. “Mr Sharma admitted to the Level 1 offence 2.1.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials,” the IPL release said. “This is Mr Sharma’s second Level 1 offence this season. For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.”