IPL 2026| Abhishek Sharma fined 25% of match fee, handed demerit point for breach of Code of Conduct

The 25-year-old was sanctioned for showing dissent on TV umpire Nitin Menon's decision after Varun Chakaravarthy took a diving catch.

Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) batter Abhishek Sharma was fined 25 per cent of his match fees for breaching the Code of Conduct during Match 6 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday (April 2).

The SRH vice-captain admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.3 and accepted the match referee's sanction. He has also accumulated one demerit point.

For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding.

He scored 48 runs off 21 deliveries to get SRH to a flier in the powerplay.

But he was sanctioned for showing dissent on TV umpire Nitin Menon's decision after Varun Chakaravarthy took a diving catch off Blessing Muzarabani the ninth over, but there seemed to be no conclusive evidence that the catch was taken cleanly.

But Nitin deemed the catch to be legal which the batter disagreed and expressed his disappointment while walking off.

For the records, SRH registered their first win of IPL 2026, with a thumping 65-run win, with Abhishek playing his part with the bat, hitting four fours and as many sixes.

(With inputs from agencies)