Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been fined 25% of his match fee and handed one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during Match 57 of IPL 2025 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Eden Gardens on May 7, 2025. The IPL confirmed the sanction, citing a Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 of the Code, which adheres to language, gestures, or actions directed at a dismissed batter with the potential to trigger an aggressive reaction.
While the IPL statement did not elaborate on the specific incident, Chakravarthy’s offense was clear when he dismissed CSK’s Dewald Brevis and gave him a send-off.
Meanwhile, in the match, having chosen to bat first, KKR maximized the powerplay, thanks to quick starts from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, and Ajinkya Rahane to reach 67/1 in six overs. Despite a slow run-scoring rate in the middle overs due to CSK spinners, Andre Russell’s late flourish helped KKR post 179.
CSK’s chase began poorly as they lost five wickets in the PowerPlay, including debutant Urvil Patel, who had added an 11-ball 31. However, Brevis was the star performer with the bat. In the 11th over, Brevis smashed Vaibhav Arora for 30 runs. Before that over, KKR had a win probability of over 78%. After that, CSK had put themselves on the driving seat.
Though Chakravarthy dismissed Brevis in the 13th over, KKR could not bounce back in the contest. Shivam Dube played a crucial knock, and MS Dhoni smashed a six off the first ball of the final over to inch closer to the target. Anshul Kamboj then sealed the deal with a boundary over mid-on, completing CSK’s first successful chase of 180-plus since 2020.
KKR, now with 11 points from 12 matches, find themselves sixth on the points table. They must win their remaining two matches, against SRH and RCB, and hope for favourable results to stay in contention for a top-four finish.
