Slow over rate increased tension! Shreyas Iyer again in trouble, now IPL career is in danger?

New Delhi.The Board of Control for Cricket in India has once again tightened its grip on Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer, who is performing brilliantly in IPL 2026. Iyer has been fined heavily after being found guilty of slow over rate for the second time in a row, due to which questions are being raised on his captaincy.

Iyer was also fined Rs 12 lakh in the first match against Gujarat Titans. However, for repeating the same mistake once again in the match against Chennai Super Kings, the fine has now been increased to Rs 24 lakh. Not only this, this time the entire team also had to suffer the punishment.

The blame fell on the entire team too

According to the official release of IPL, this action was taken due to maintaining slow over rate during the match played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. As per the rules, this was Punjab Kings’ second violation this season. In such a situation, a fine of Rs 24 lakh was imposed on the captain, while the rest of the players including the playing eleven and impact players were fined Rs 6 lakh or 25 percent of their match fee (whichever is less).

Will Shreyas Iyer be banned?

The biggest question arising is whether Shreyas Iyer can be banned from playing the match? Actually, earlier there was a rule in IPL that if a team was found guilty of slow over rate three times in a season, then its captain was banned for one match. But this rule has been changed before the 2025 season. Now, under the new rules, the captain is not directly banned, rather a demerit point system has been implemented along with fine. In such a situation, there is no danger of any kind of ban on Iyer at present.

What is demerit point system?

According to the new rules, demerit points are given to players and captains in cases like slow over rate. Match fees can be deducted from 25% to 75% for level-1 offences. Level-2 (serious) cases award 4 demerit points. Every 4 demerit points may result in a fine or additional punishment up to 100% of the match fee. However, these points may lead to a ban in the future, but an immediate ban will not be imposed on the basis of slow over rate alone.

Questions started being raised on captaincy

After repeating the mistake of slow over rate for the second time in a row, questions are being raised on Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy. Although the team’s performance has been excellent, these repeated mistakes can create problems for the team in the future. Now it will be interesting to see whether Punjab Kings learn from this mistake and improve their game as well as discipline in the coming matches or not.