The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could punish the match referee for allowing a banned substance to enter the dressing room unchecked after Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag was seen using an e-cigarette during his side’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match, according to BCCI sources.
Sources added that there is no specific provision in the BCCI rulebook to penalise Parag for smoking during the clash against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur. However, the match referee could face consequences for failing to prevent the banned substance from being brought into the dressing room.
While RR is having a fine IPL campaign as a collective, having won six and lost three matches and being a strong contender for playoffs with 12 points, holding a fourth-place finish currently, Riyan is himself having a poor run with the bat, having made just 117 runs in nine matches at a poor average of 14.62, a strike rate of 124.46 and a best score of 29.
So far, the RR's fire-packed campaign has been dominated by the opening pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (400 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of over 238, with a century and two fifties) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (306 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of over 158, with three fifties), the pace duo of Jofra Archer (14 wickets at an average of 19.50) and Nandre Burger (nine wickets at an average of 32.77).
Donovan Ferreira (182 runs in six innings at an average of 36.40 and a strike rate of over 158, with two fifties) has also delivered some strong finishes for RR.
The Royals will take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) at a home clash on Friday.
(With inputs from ANI)