Aussie cricket star Tim David has been officially handed a suspension and fined 50 per cent of his match fee after his actions in the IPL final. Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood was one of the stars for the Royal Challengers Bangalore having taken 2-39 to help lead the Challengers’ bowling attack and keep the Gujarat Titans to 160.
Virat Kohli scored 75 off 42 balls to help RCB to reach their modest target of 161 with five wickets in hand. Unfortunately, David picked up his fifth demerit point of the season after throwing an ice bag in the direction of on-field umpire Nitin Menon during the first innings.
Tim David (pictured right) has been handed a one match suspension and fined 50 per cent of his match fee after the IPL final. (Images: IPL/Getty Images)
(IPL/Getty Images)
There was confusion amongst fans over when the incident occurred considering there were videos of David tipping an ice bucket on coach Andy Flower after the match during the celebrations. This wasn’t the incident in question and his charge came during the game. He was hit with one demerit under the Code of Conduct rules, which David didn’t challenge.
This was just one of a number of demerits he received throughout the 2026 season, which took his total to five. This means the David hit the threshold under IPL rules and the batter will serve a one-match suspension next year.
An IPL statement read: “David was found to have breached Article 2.9 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which relates to throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Team Official, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during a Match.
“He has now accumulated five Demerit Points, which result in a one-game suspension. Accordingly, he will be suspended for RCB’s first game of the next IPL season or the first game of the franchise he represents in IPL 2027.”
David’s other demerits came earlier in the season. The Aussie batter received his first lot of demerit points when he refused to hand the ball to the umpires on two separate occasions in a game against the Mumbai Indians.
David’s other charge also came against the Mumbai Indians in a different match after “using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting” at the Wankhede. The Aussie will now miss the first game of next season, but it won’t be a huge bother to him after winning his second straight IPL title.
Josh Hazlewood wins back-to-back IPL titles
Speaking after the victory, Hazlewood lauded his team’s efforts having taken 15 wickets throughout his campaign. “That was right up there,” of his third IPL title. “Someone always stepped up when they needed to. We had like 10 different man-of-the-matches, so amazing depth in the squad. Anyone who came in did a great job.”
David contributed with the bat having scored 24 off 17 before getting caught behind. He finished the campaign with 305 runs – batting down the order – at a strike-rate of 188. Kohli finished with 675 runs with an incredible season average of 56.25.
One of the most incredible stories of the tournament was that of 15-year-old Rajasthan batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He finished with the ‘orange cap’ with a total of 776 runs.