KKR’s Angkrish Raghuvanshi fined 20% by BCCI after rare ‘obstructing the field’ call

Kolkata Knight Riders batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi has faced the wrath of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for breaching the IPL’s Code of Conduct during the high-stakes match against the Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. Notably, Raghuvanshi was given out for obstructing the field after the third umpire found the batter changing his path and judged that he had tried to stop the throw from Mohammed Shami from reaching his stumps with his body.

The whole KKR dugout was shocked by the decision, and Raghuvanshi showed visible anger as he threw his bat and gloves upon reaching the dugout.

Even KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar was seen having a heated discussion with the fourth umpire. However, Nayar has not faced the wrath of BCCI and only Raghuvanshi has been fined by the organizers.

BCCI takes action against Raghuvanshi:

BCCI has now fined Raghuvanshi 20% of his match fee and also added one demerit point for breaching the IPL's Code of Conduct Level 2. KKR's highest run-scorer this season was found to be in breach of Article 2.2 of the Code of Conduct, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match.”

“The incident occurred in the 5th over, when, after being given out for ‘obstructing the field’, Raghuvanshi struck the boundary cushion with his bat in an aggressive manner and subsequently threw his helmet into the dugout in a similar manner. Raghuvanshi admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction,” a statement by the IPL reads.

Why did Raghuvanshi's wicket matter?

As mentioned earlier, Raghuvanshi has been the man in form for KKR, who have struggled with form. After losing the wickets of openers Ajinkya Rahane and Tim Seifert, KKR were looking to make a comeback in the game, and Raghuvanshi looked like their best hope, with the batter already having hit a boundary in the match.

However, the dismissal of Raghuvanshi set KKR back as they fell to 93 for the loss of 7 wickets at one stage. However, Rinku Singh's heroics in the final few overs meant that his side eventually posted a total of 155 runs in 20 overs.

The controversy-ridden clash went till the last ball of the final over, where Mohammed Shami hit a six off the final ball of Kartik Tyagi's over to take the match to a Super Over. After that, it was the Sunil Narine show, as the IPL veteran dismissed the two LSG batters for just 1 run. Rinku Singh ended the match for KKR as he scored a boundary on the first ball of the Super Over.

Notably, this was KKR's second win of the season after facing five defeats.

Talking about the super over after the match, KKR pacer Vaibhav Arora said, "In the super over, we know our best bowler in the team was Sunil Narine. He's been serving the franchise for so many years, and everyone trusted him blindly with that responsibility. As you witnessed, he dismissed both batters and only let them score one run. We knew we had the advantage with the best bowler in Narine. He's delivered a maiden in a super over in the past. So, there was no one better than him at that time. He restricted them to a solitary run, and it was an easy chance for us then."