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Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has spoken about the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) slow over-rate concerns in the ongoing 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli was handed a ₹24 lakh fine for failing to complete the overs within the allotted time. RCB had to bring an extra fielder inside the circle for the final over in their close win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 23.
The IPL Governing Council stated in a press release:
"As it was his team’s second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Mr. Kohli was fined Rs. 24 lakh and each member of the Playing XI, including the impact substitute, was fined Rs. 6 lakh or 25 percent of the match fee, whichever is lesser."
Noting that Kohli's teammates let him down leading to the fine, Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel:
"Virat Kohli will give the fine, that won't be an issue for him. But, it is the responsibility of the team to complete the overs in the allotted time. The fielders and the bowlers have let the captain down."
Kohli was also fined 10 percent of his match fee for violating the code of conduct during the team's loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) earlier in the season.
"The counter-attack from Maxi and Faf was even better than the Chennai game" - RCB stand-in captain Virat Kohli
Kohli led RCB to successive wins with Faf du Plessis featuring as an impact player due to his injury. Half-centuries from the overseas pair of du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell helped RCB post 189-9. That proved to be enough in the end, courtesy of some good bowling displays by the home side in the afternoon encounter.
Speaking during the post-match presentation after the win, Kohli said:
"The counter-attack from Maxi and Faf was even better than the Chennai game, it was a better surface that day. Maxi took the game away in just four overs. We thought 160 might be enough but the way they batted helped us to 190."
RCB are next scheduled to face the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, April 26.
