The 16th edition of the IPLhasn't been short on drama but the low-scoring thriller between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore took an ugly turn when Virat Kohli engaged in a war of words with LSG mentor and former Indian cricket Gautam Gambhir after RCB's 18 run victory in Lucknow. Following the scuffle, both Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 percent of their match fees.LSG seamer Naveen-ul-Haq who also had an altercation during the match was fined 50% of his match fee.
Following the imposition of the fines, there have been widespread discussions among fans about how much will each player have to pay and whether the amount will be cut from their annual salary.The IPL match fee is not pre-determined like international matches as it depends on various aspects like the player's auction price, his actual salary in case of retention by the franchise (like in the case of Kohli), and the number of matches the franchise plays in a season.
According to reports, whatever the amount for the fine will be, Kohli won't be paying it from his pocket as most IPL franchises have a culture of paying their player’s fines. "Players put their bodies on the line for the team and we respect that and as a culture, we don't cut the fine from their salaries," an RCB source was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.According to a report, the same applies to LSG seamer Naveen-ul-Haq and mentor Gambhir and hence LSG will be paying fines imposed on Gambhir and Naveen. As far as the amount Gambhir has to pay, it remains unknown as his salary remains between him and the franchise.Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar demanded suspension for both Gambhir and after their verbal altercation. He gave the example of the Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth saga, which saw the cricketers getting suspended. Thus, he bats for a stricter punishment so that things like this don’t happen again in the future.
“So, my point, do something which will make sure, these things don't happen again. If it has to you know, like it happened with Harbhajan and Sreesanth 10 years ago, that you have to ask them to maybe step aside for a couple of matches. Make sure you do something that ensures that these things don't happen and also something that will hurt the team. That's a stiff one," he added.
