Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has been fined 30% of his match fees for breaching the IPL's code of conduct during his team's match against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Samson was found guilty of a Level 1 offence under Article 2.8 of the code of conduct, which relates to showing dissent at an umpire's decision. He admitted to the offence and accepted the match referee's sanction.
Samson, who top-scored for RR with 86 off 46 balls, was out in the 16th over of their chase of 222, caught at long-on by Shai Hope off the bowling of Mukesh Kumar. Hope took the catch close to the boundary edge, and briefly stumbled before regaining his footing. Unsure of whether or not his foot touched the boundary cushions, the on-field umpires called on TV umpire Michael Gough, who adjudicated that Hope took the catch cleanly.
Samson then engaged on-field umpires KN Ananthapadmanabhan and Ulhas Gandhe in a prolonged conversation before leaving the field.
The dismissal was a key moment in the match, with RR's hopes of overhauling their target resting largely on Samson's shoulders - they needed 60 off 27 balls before he was dismissed.
RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara empathised with the third umpire for having to make a tricky call.
"It depends on replays and angles, and sometimes you think the foot's touched," he said at his post-match press conference. "But it is a difficult one for the third umpire to judge. The game was at a crucial stage, so that happens in cricket. We have different perspectives on it. At the end of the day, you have to stand by that decision in terms of what the umpires did. If we have any other kind of opinion on it, we will share it with the umpire and sort it out. But irrespective of that dismissal, we still should have probably seen that game home."
Capitals assistant coach Pravin Amre hailed Hope for managing to recover his balance to complete the catch.
"In IPL some moments are very crucial, and it [Hope's catch] was a deciding moment in the game," Amre said. "Sanju was batting so well. We have to give credit to the way Hope judged that catch, he balanced himself [well] with that. Umpires are there, and there is so much technology. Once he is given out by the third umpire, it was more [clear]. We also thought from the dugout that he has [touched the boundary cushions] but it [happens] in the game, and the umpire's decision is the final decision. It wasn't an easy catch, it was really travelling. After the game also I spoke [to Hope], he anticipated that very well, but he said the ball came very, very fast."