New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek Sharma landed in hot water for his on-field outburst in Match 6 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
The SRH vice-captain showed strong dissent to the third umpire’s decision of adjudging him out despite what appeared to be inconclusive evidence of his catch taken by Varun Chakravarthy on the boundary line.
After the decision was upheld on appeal, Abhishek appeared reluctant to leave the crease, expressing frustration before eventually slowly walking back to the pavilion. His reaction drew the attention of match officials, who deemed the explosive batter culpable of breaching the code of conduct.
The left-handed opener was fined 25 per cent of the match fees for his actions and also given one demerit point.
“Abhishek Sharma, All-rounder, Sunrisers Hyderabad has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees and has also accumulated one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday,” an IPL statement read.
“He admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.3 and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” the statement added.
About the incident
The controversial incident happened in the 9th over of the match when Abhishek pulled a short ball from Blessing Muzarabani. The ball looked destined for a boundary, but Chakravarty made a superb effort to take what seemed like a clean catch at first sight.
The KKR spinner dived forward to take a brilliant low catch, but the umpires decided to check if the catch was clean.
Abhishek was told to wait as the decision went upstairs. After multiple replays from different angles, the third umpire gave the benefit of the doubt to the fielder, much to the dismay of SRH and Abhishek.
However, Abhishek’s dismissal didn’t cost SRH at all. The Sunrisers, who lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on opening day, bounced back strongly with a 65-run win over the Knight Riders.
SRH open the account with big win as KKR remain winless
Abhishek (48 off 21) and Travis Head (46 off 21) set the perfect platform for SRH with a sensational 82-run stand off just 34 balls to help their team post the highest powerplay score in IPL 2026.
After a slight stutter in the middle overs, Heinrich Klassen (52) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (39) forged a solid 82-run stand for the fifth wicket to help SRH set a 227-run target.
Reddy also starred with the ball, taking 2/17 while Jaydev Unadkat took 3/21 as KKR were bowled out for 161 in 16 overs, slumping to their second straight loss.