Riyan Parag’s RR teammate hit with heavy punishment by IPL Governing …

Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast bowler Nandre Burger faced official disciplinary action following their recent IPL 2026 fixture. The South African pacer received a financial penalty for breaching the tournament’s code of conduct during their victory against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs in Match 32 of the ongoing tournament, which was played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. The Riyan Parag-led team scored 159 runs before bowling out LSG, led by Rishabh Pant for 119 runs in 18 overs. freshyourfeel.com

RR Pacer Nandre Burger Fined For Breaching IPL Code Of Conduct Against Lucknow Super Giants

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released an official IPL media advisory on April 23. The board imposed a financial penalty and demerit points on Nandre Burger following his aggressive on-field behavior against the Lucknow Super Giants.

“Nandre Burger, Bowler, Rajasthan Royals (RR) has been fined 10 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 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Wednesday.”

Nandre Burger Admits Guilt and Accepts Match Referee’s Decision

The statement confirmed that Nandre Burger admitted his guilt for the offense and accepted the final disciplinary decision of the match referee without contesting the charges.

“Nandre Burger admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 - pertaining to using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a another player in the Match - 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.”

Nandre Burger delivered a strong bowling performance while defending the 160-run target. He picked up two crucial wickets and conceded 27 runs in his four overs. Meanwhile, Jofra Archer returned impressive figures of three wickets for 20 runs.

Ravindra Jadeja Rescues Rajasthan Royals Innings

During the chase, Australian opener Mitchell Marsh top-scored for Lucknow Super Giants with 55 runs. However, the team kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and their run chase never gained control as they were bowled out in 18 overs.

Earlier in the match, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 62/4 after nine overs. Ravindra Jadeja rescued the innings with an unbeaten 43 runs off 29 deliveries, building a crucial 33-run partnership with Donovan Ferreira.

Donovan Ferreira contributed 20 runs before getting dismissed. After the recovery phase, Shubham Dubey added the finishing touch with an unbeaten 19 runs from 11 balls, helping Rajasthan Royals reach 159.

This 40-run victory marked Rajasthan Royals’ fifth win in seven matches this season. Meanwhile, Lucknow Super Giants suffered their fifth defeat and remained second from bottom in the standings, hurting their playoff hopes.

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Venkatesh Iyer, now with Royal Challengers Bengaluru after a significant price drop, embraces a team-first approach despite limited game time. He understands the settled combination of the defending champions and credits the coaching staff for clarity on his role. Iyer remains mentally prepared, focusing on improving his red-ball bowling with the ambition of winning the Ranji Trophy for Madhya Pradesh.

The mega clash of the IPL 2026 between arch-rivals, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is all set to be played on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Ahead of the match, the Super Kings will miss the services of their star opening batsman Ayush Mhatre. The right-handed batsman has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.

Speaking about his replacement, CSK`s bowling coach Eric Simons said that the management has not thought about it yet. He also said that the think tank will be looking to make use of available resources.

"We haven`t got any replacements in mind at the moment," he told the reporters.

"With what we have in the squad, there`s plenty of time left for a replacement to be made and to be known. But at the moment we`re going to use the resources we have to pull a side," he added.

It will be interesting to see which of the CSK batsmen will step up to the occasion ahead of the clash against the "Paltan" in Mumbai.

Currently, the Mumbai Indians are placed in the seventh position with two wins and four losses. They have a net run rate (NRR) of +0.067 and four points. On the other hand, the Chennai Super Kings are in a similar situation. They are placed in the eighth position with two wins and four defeats and a net run rate (NRR) of -0.780 and four points.

IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings: Full Squads

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (wk), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Atharva Ankolekar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Mohammad Izhar, Raghu Sharma.

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar.

(With PTI Inputs)

Abhishek Sharma believes that the game-changer in his career was the 2024 IPL season in Sunrisers Hyderabad when he felt youngsters were given the freedom and full backing to perform at their optimal level.

The world’s No. 1 ranked T20 batter once again dazzled with an unbeaten 135 off 68 balls in SRH’s 48 run win against Delhi Capitals.

Axar Patel. Pic/PTI

“Team coaches [Daniel Vettori] and captain [regular skipper Pat Cummins] created an environment where you can express yourself. I wanted to show my talent but you have to have backing from captain. The environment we had in SRH in 2024 was game-changer and it felt that they wanted youngsters to grow. Punjabi players enjoy freedom and Hyderabad team gave me that,” Abhishek said at the post match presentation.

Meanwhile, DC skipper Axar Patel rued about KL Rahul’s bungling of a run-out and Pathum Nissanka dropping a sitter which allowed Abhishek to let loose. “Run-out chance missed and missed catch did cost us dearly. Had we taken those chances, he wouldn’t have reached where he did. But credit that he took those chances and scored those runs. But yes, good fielding is in our hands and we should have done that.”

While DC’s choice of players is being criticised, Axar ruled out any possibility of change in core set-up.

“Not thinking about making any changes. When wicket is so placid, we should just take this as an off day and forget about it,” he told Sunil Gavaskar.

2
No. of Abhishek Sharma’s scores among the top five knocks of IPL — 141 against PBKS and 135* vs DC

1
No. of times Abhishek Sharma has batted through all 20 overs of an IPL innings

3
No. of consecutive wins for SRH

9
No. of T20 centuries for Abhishek Sharma — joint-most by an Indian alongside Virat Kohli

4
No. of times Abhishek Sharma has crossed 130 runs in a T20 innings — the most by anyone

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The Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) annual awards function on Wednesday evening was a star-studded affair, graced by some of the big names of the game.

Former India captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, chief guest of the evening, hailed the MCA’s structure across various age groups. “Mumbai has a good cricket structure with the Harris Shield and Giles Shield for schools, the U-19 and inter-collegiate tournaments, among others, over the years that serve as the supply line for Mumbai cricket,” Vengsarkar told an audience that also included India legend Sunil Gavaskar and former India pacer Raju Kulkarni among others.

Chandu Patankar and Shobha Pandit. Pics/G Krishnan

Kulkarni, who played three Tests in the 1980s, advised youngsters to “be grateful and not to take things for granted.”

Mumbai’s teen batter Ayush Mhatre, 18, could not agree more. “Thanks to MCA for giving me such a big opportunity at a young age. Batting across Mumbai’s maidans is difficult. Pitches are tough, but I love playing at maidans like Cross Maidan, Shivaji Park, Oval Maidan… they have helped me succeed at the higher level,” said Mhatre, who made his first-class debut at 17 in the Irani Cup before leading India to the ICC U-19 World Cup title earlier this year in Zimbabwe.

Besides rewarding achievers in juniors, seniors, men and women, MCA honoured former Test player Chandu Patankar, 95, and ex-women’s Test cricketer Shobha Pandit, 70, with the Lifetime Achievement award.