Samson reprimanded for heated argument with on-field umpires

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson was fined 30 per cent of his match fees for his quarrel with the umpires over his debatable dismissal against the hosts Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday. Samson was anchoring the Royals to a comprehensive win at 86 runs while chasing a 222-run target. 

However, his innings was cut short by DC bowler Mukesh Kumar after he tried to hit him over long-on but was caught by Shai Hope, who managed to stay inside the boundary. As the catch was looked very closely, the umpires extensively checked it before the RR skipper was finally given out.

However, Samson did not look pleased with the decision as he felt that Shai Hope had touched the boundary and was involved in a heated argument with the umpires. While RR failed to win the match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) imposed a heavy penalty on the Royals' wicket-keeper for breaching the BCCI code of conduct.

"Mr Sanju Samson has been fined 30 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during Match 56 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on May 07, 2024," the official statement read.

"Samson committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.8 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. He admitted to the offence 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," it further stated

RR' team director, Kumar Sangakkara, also stated the difficulties faced by the umpires in announcing the verdict at crucial junctures of the game.

"It depends on replays and angles, and sometimes you think the foot's touched. 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," Sangakkara said.

This is not the first time when the RR captain was punished this year; earlier, during the match against Gujarat Titans, Samson faced an INR 12 lakh penalty for a slow over-rate.

Rajasthan Royals, despite the loss against DC, are comfortably placed at the second spot in the points table and have a four-point lead over the third-placed Chennai Super Kings.

Samson believed that the match could've turned in RR's favour as he lauded his players for their performances.

"I think we had it in our hands, it was like 11-12 runs per over, it was achievable, but these things happen in IPL. We are doing both the things fine, we will like to stick to what the conditions demand, 220 was 10 runs extra to chase, if we had conceded a couple of less boundaries, we would have made it through," Samson had said in the post-match presentation.