HYDERABAD: Gujarat Titans' seasoned seamer Ishant Sharma has been handed one demerit point and fined 25 per cent of his match fees after breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during their fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) released a statement on Monday to confirm that Ishant had admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 and accepted the match referee Javagal Srinath's sanction.
"Ishant Sharma, Bowler, Gujarat Titans 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 Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday," IPL said in a statement.
"Ishant Sharma admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 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 concluded.
The 36-year-old endured an expensive outing against the Sunrisers in a one-sided affair. He was hammered all around the ground and conceded 53 runs in his four-over spell, the highest among both sides. He was swapped for Sherfane Rutherford in the 13th over of GT's innings.
Overall, Ishant has been struggling to contain the batters throughout the season. The opposition batters have handsomely scored runs against him in three games.
Overall, he is the most expensive bowler in the ongoing season, conceding 107 runs across eight overs in three games, with a sole scalp to his name.
Despite his costly spell, the Titans restricted the high-scoring Sunrisers to a sub-par 152/8. In reply, GT skipper Shubman Gill played captain's knock even though Hyderabad rattled his side with a couple of early wickets.
He put up a show with some textbook perfect shots, stayed unbeaten on 61(43) and steered his side to a comfortable 7-wicket win with a handful of overs to spare.
With a third victory on trot in four fixtures, GT moved to the second spot on the points table.