Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Varun Chakravarthy was fined and handed a demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the game against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens. The IPL statement confirmed that Chakravarthy "admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5", which relates to "Using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from another player in the match."
"For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding," the IPL statement read, which didn't mention what the incident actually was but Chakravarthy likely said something to a CSK batter after dismissing him during the IPL 2025 clash.
Chakravarthy was the best bowler for KKR on show on the day, as others were really ordinary. The mystery spinner dismissed Ravindra Jadeja, who was coming off a sensational 77 in his last game and Dewald Brevis, who had just smoked 30 runs in an over, bowled by Vaibhav Arora. The right-arm spinner got to the milestone of 100 wickets, in just 82 innings as he broke Yuzvendra Chahal's record for being the fastest to reach the landmark for a spin bowler in the IPL.
However, Chakravarthy's spell wasn't enough for KKR to win the game as they were 15-20 short of a match-winning score and that 30-run over by Arora, really proved to be the game-changer as CSK were reduced to 5/60 at one point. The Knight Riders' campaign in the ongoing IPL season now hangs in the balance as they can only get to 15 points and will be competing with Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals for hopefully, a place in the final four, as both those teams too have an odd number of points.
For CSK, however, this was only their third win of the season and will now go back to Chennai to finish their home leg against the Rajasthan Royals before travelling to Ahmedabad for their final league stage game.