Ashwin fined over his comments on the umpires

Rajasthan Royals’ all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has been slammed with a 25% fine on his match fee for Match 17 of IPL 2023. Ashwin was found to be in breach of the IPL Code of Conduct in his team’s 3-run win over Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday (April 12). 

As it is believed, the sanction is regarding Ashwin’s comments over the umpire’s decision to change the ball during Rajasthan’s quest of defending 175 at the Chepauk stadium. In the presses post the match, Ashwin said: "I'm quite surprised the umpires changed the ball for dew on their own. It's never happened before and I'm quite surprised.”

Ashwin further went on to criticize the umpires for a few other dubious calls. "Some of the decisions in this year's IPL on the field have left me a little flummoxed, to be honest. It left me flummoxed in a good or bad way because what you need is a little bit of balance. We're going as a bowling team and we're not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpire's accord. What reason - I did ask the umpire but he said we can change it.

"So I hope every time there's dew they can change it - every single time going forward in this IPL. You can do whatever you want but you need to be standard."

The ball was changed in the 12th over of the innings after Ashwin trapped Shivam Dube right in front.

"Ashwin admitted to the Level 1 Offence under Article 2.7 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding," said the IPL release announcing the sanction. 

Prior to Ashwin, the Royals were also fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during the game.