Kolkata, April 22 (IANS): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli, has been fined 50 percent of his match fees for breaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct during Match 36 of the IPL 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Sunday evening.

Kohli was hauled up for expressing dissent against the umpire's decision as he was unhappy with the manner of his dismissal as he believed the ball on which he got out was above the waist and thus should have been called a no-ball.

“Kohli committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.8 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. He admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction,” the BCCI statement read.

For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee's decision is final and binding.

In the chase of 223 against Kolkata Knight Riders, Kohli was off the blocks quickly by hitting two sixes and a four. But Kohli lobbed a slower high full-toss from Harshit Rana back to the bowler, and the decision was sent to third umpire Michael Gough.

The review system showed that the ball was dipping on Kohli, who was batting out of his crease, via a procedure where they match the height of a batter up to his waist with the height of the ball, leaving Kohli livid as he made his displeasure known to umpires before walking off for 18.

Needing 21 to win in the final over, Karn Sharma hit Mitchell Starc for three sixes before being caught and bowled by the left-arm pacer. Wicketkeeper Phil Salt then ran out Lockie Ferguson on the last ball as RCB lost the match by 1 run.