Delhi Capitals' pacer Rasikh Salam Dar was reprimanded for breaching the IPL's Code of Conduct, following his aggressive celebration after the picking the wicket of R Sai Kishore during the match against Gujarat Titans on Wednesday. The DC emerged victorious by a narrow margin of 4 runs against Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2024 encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Dar produced an impressive bowling performance (3/44 in 4 overs, including key wickets of Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, and Sai Kishore).

“Dar committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct. He admitted to the offence 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,” read a statement from IPL.

As per the IPL's Code of Conduct, Article 2.5 states that any language, action, or gesture used by a player and directed towards a batter upon his/her dismissal, which has the potential to provoke an aggressive reaction from the dismissed batter, is considered a breach of the Code of Conduct.

Without limitation, Article 2.5 includes:

(a) excessive celebration directed at and in close proximity to the dismissed batter;

(b) verbally abusing the dismissed batter; and

(c) pointing or gesturing towards the pavilion.

Dar admitted to the offence 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.

Rasikh was handed the crucial 19th over from the skipper with the visitors needed 37 runs. The right-arm pacer did concede 18 runs but ended up picking the key wicket of Sai Kishore with the final delivery of the over.

Explaining the decision to hand Rasikh Dar the penultimate over of the run-chase, DC skipper Rishabh Pant stated that he had bowled well, and trusted him to deliver.

“(Anrich) Nortje was having a tough time. T20 is a funny game, after 14-15 overs the ball was coming on nicely. So we wanted to trust Rasikh, always trust someone who is bowling well in a game. I think it is about instincts as a captain, it will come off sometimes. Happy it worked today,” Pant explained his decision.

Delhi Capitals win propelled them to the sixth position in the IPL standings, marking their fourth victory of the season. Gujarat Titans, on the other hand, slumped to seventh place after suffering their fifth defeat of IPL 2024.

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