Tim David will miss Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s opening match of IPL 2027 after being handed a one-game suspension for throwing an ice bag towards umpire Nitin Menon during the IPL 2026 final against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The IPL announced on Monday that David had been fined 50 per cent of his match fee and handed two demerit points for a Level 1 offence. The Australian was found guilty of violating Article 2.9 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which deals with throwing a ball or any other item of cricket equipment at or near a player, team official, umpire, match referee, or any other person in an inappropriate or dangerous manner during a match.

The incident took place in the 10th over of the first innings. According to the IPL, David reacted to the fall of a wicket by throwing an ice bag aggressively in the direction of umpire Nitin Menon. 

David admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee Javagal Srinath.

While the immediate penalty was a fine and two demerit points, the breach carried greater consequences because it was David’s third Level 1 offence of the season. He had earlier received one demerit point in Match 20 and two more in Match 54.

The latest offense took his tally to five demerit points for the season, triggering an automatic one-match suspension under the IPL’s disciplinary regulations.

As a result, David will miss Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first game of IPL 2027. If he represents another franchise next season, the suspension will instead be served during that team’s opening fixture.

The punishment comes at the end of a successful campaign for both David and RCB, who capped their season by defeating Gujarat Titans in the final. However, the title celebrations have been tempered by disciplinary action against one of the side’s key batters, with David set to begin next season on the sidelines. (India Today)

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A petition has been filed in the Karnataka High Court by event management firm DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd and IPL cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) seeking to quash the FIR registered against them in connection with the stampede incident at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed eleven lives.

In its plea, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd stated that the incident occurred due to failures on the part of the state police, alleging that the police did not adequately manage the large crowds that had gathered for the public event.

The company submitted that there were not enough officers deployed at the stadium and claimed that most of the police personnel had been stationed near the Vidhana Soudha, leaving the stadium vulnerable to uncontrolled crowd surges.

In its petition, the firm highlighted that it had earlier handled a much larger crowd during India’s T20 World Cup victory parade without incident. It noted that although the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai had a limited capacity of 32,000, the event went off smoothly.

The event organiser further claimed that it had written to the authorities on June 3 seeking permission for an open-bus parade, but the police denied the request. Instead, the state government chose to hold the celebration in front of the Vidhana Soudha, where a significant police force was deployed, allegedly leaving the stadium inadequately guarded.

According to DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd, it had deployed 584 private staff for the event and arranged 2,450 food packets for the police. However, only 600 of these were received, allegedly due to low police presence in the area around the stadium during the afternoon.

The company also alleged that despite clear signs of crowd surge, the gates were opened only at 3.30 pm on the day the incident occurred. The situation allegedly escalated following a lathi-charge by police, which it claims triggered panic and caused the deadly stampede.

The petition argues that DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltdis being unfairly targeted to deflect blame from governmental lapses, and that two of its staff members were arrested under political directions.

It further states that the event was held with an official invitation from the Karnataka government, with the Chief Secretary personally overseeing preparations.

The High Court is slated to hear a total of four petitions in this matter today at 2.30 pm before Justice Krishna Kumar. This includes a separate plea by Nikhil Sosale, the marketing head of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), who has challenged his arrest in the case, calling it arbitrary, illegal and a violation of his fundamental rights.

In a petition filed before the court, Sosale contended that the manner in which he was arrested was illegal, arbitrary and in violation of his fundamental rights. Sosale’s petition argues that his arrest was not based on any investigation and appears to have been the result of political pressure. “It is clear from the timing of the Petitioner’s arrest, which is evidently the result of an oral directive of the Hon’ble Chief Minister to arrest various RCB officials – that too, in the absence of any investigation whatsoever – that the Petitioner’s arrest is motivated and an attempt to shift the blame of the tragedy to Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL) and its officials,” the petition states. (India Today)

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Former Indian cricketer Madan Lal has strongly criticized the poor planning and crowd management during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebrations at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a stampede claimed the lives of at least 11 fans and injured several others. 

After RCB’s long-awaited first IPL title win on June 3 in Ahmedabad, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) had organised a felicitation ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Thousands of fans gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

However, as the crowd swelled, the situation became unmanageable. Police resorted to a lathi-charge to control the crowd, leading to panic and chaos. Seven people were killed in the resulting stampede, while several others were rushed to Bowring Hospital and Vydehi Superspeciality Hospital for treatment.

“People will not forget this —or Virat Kohli. While people were dying outside, there was a celebration inside. It’s truly shocking and disheartening. The families of the dead should consider suing RCB and the state government for ₹100 crore for this tragic mishap…BCCI is also shirking responsibility,” former Indian cricketer Madan Lal told IANS.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressed the media after the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the dead.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar defended the arrangements, stating, “We had arranged for 5,000 police personnel. We couldn’t use force on such a young, vibrant crowd.”

The authorities have confirmed that the bodies of two persons are at Bowring Hospital and that of four others at Vaidehi Hospital. Six people are being treated in the ICU of the Vaidehi Hospital and three are admitted to the ICU.

The government of Karnataka had earlier cancelled the victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium, citing security reasons. (IANS)

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Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore has roped in ICC Hall of Famer and T20 World Cup-winning coach Andy Flower as the Head Coach of the team.

Taking to Twitter, RCB stated, “Andy’s experience of coaching IPL & T20 teams around the world and leading his teams to titles at the PSL, ILT20, The Hundred and Abu Dhabi T10 will help in developing a championship-winning mindset and take RCB’s #PlayBold philosophy forward.”

Andy Flower takes over as head coach of RCB as the franchise looks to overturn a disappointing IPL 2023, where they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. 

According to ESPNcricinfo, the exact period of the contract has not been made public. 

At RCB, he will reunite with Faf du Plessis, the captain, who he worked with earlier during his time with St Lucia Kings in the CPL.

Flower takes over from Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar, the franchise’s director of cricket and head coach respectively till last season. (NewsWire)

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