Riyan Parag Faces No Ban Despite Illegal Vaping Incident During IPL Chase

Riyan Parag has been fined 25% of his match fee for vaping, amounting to INR 25 lakhs out of his massive INR 14 crore IPL contract. 

Riyan Parag Faces No Ban Despite Illegal Vaping Incident During IPL Chase

Riyan Parag has been fined by the BCCI for vaping during an IPL game. (via News 18)

In Short
  • Riyan Parag was fined 25% of his match fee for vaping in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room during an IPL match.
  • He received a demerit point for breaching IPL regulations, which prohibit smoking or vaping in team areas.
  • The BCCI is considering further action against the Rajasthan Royals due to repeated disciplinary issues this season.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag became the subject of a major controversy after he was caught vaping inside the team’s dressing room during their IPL clash against the Punjab Kings.

The 24-year-old, however, has managed to avoid a ban and has been handed a fine. While RR has been among the successful sides in IPL 2026, Parag has faced criticism.

The all-rounder has endured a dismal campaign with the bat, having scored 117 runs in the nine games at a mere average of 14.63 and a strike-rate of 124.47, without a single 50+ score.

To add to the woes, he became the flashpoint of a disciplinary breach after broadcasting cameras showed Parag using an e-cigarette while seated inside the dressing room.

He was captured exhaling a cloud of smoke, and the clip quickly went viral on social media. The backlash was severe, given that vaping is illegal in India. Parag’s behavior breached the IPL regulations as well, which strictly prohibit smoking or vaping within dressing rooms and dugout areas. Additionally, the presence of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the team camp ignited furor against the RR skipper. 

With the BCCI taking up the matter a day later, the investigation ended today. In a notice to the RR captain, the board charged him with a Level 1 offense under Article 2.1 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which deals with unspecified breaches by players and officials. Parag has been fined 25 percent of his match fee and handed a demerit point for the ‘smoking’ act, deemed to have brought disrepute to the game.

Parag admitted to the offense to match referee Amit Sharma, who was informed about it by the umpires at the end of the match. The penalty, however, is in stark contrast to what fans had demanded. Some of them urged the BCCI to hand the all-rounder a 2-3 match ban for his conduct, arguing that a mere fine would not be enough. Moreover, it is the second such violation that the Men in Pink have faced this season, after team manager Romi Bhinder was fined for using a mobile phone in the dugout. 

The BCCI’s statement on Riyan Parag did not end with an individual fine, with the board confirming that it is exploring options for ‘action’ against the Jaipur-based franchise. These recurring lapses have put RR under the scanner. 

Kieron Pollard defends Jasprit Bumrah despite the Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2026 struggles

It has not been the Mumbai Indians’ season, with the five-time IPL champions struggling to even come out of the bottom half of the table. What has been all the more concerning is Jasprit Bumrah’s form, who has picked up a mere two wickets at an average of 132.

Keiron Pollard on Jasprit Bumrah IPL form
Keiron Pollard suggested that Jasprit Bumrah is ‘entitled’ to a bad season in the IPL. (via Indian Express)

The Mumbai Indians are placed ninth in the IPL 2026 standings, having won just two games, while losing six. The team suffered back-to-back defeats recently, including a humiliating 103-run loss to arch-rivals CSK, and another six-wicket defeat to SRH, where they saw a 244-run target chased down. MI’s bowling unit has been the most susceptible this season, particularly with Jasprit Bumrah out of form. 

Thrice this season, the 32-year-old pacer has conceded over 40 runs in a match. In spite of that, Bumrah has found support from MI’s batting coach, Kieron Pollard, who suggested that the pacer is allowed to have an ‘off-phase’.

He exclaimed that there has been no change in Bumrah’s bowling in IPL 2026, and asked fans to recall how he won matches for MI in the past, while also being the world’s no.1 bowler. He told the reporters:

There’s no difference with Jasprit Bumrah, all right? He has done this for years… As a human being, he’s entitled as well to make mistakes, to not have a good day, not have a good season, not have a good couple of months.

The West Indies’ icon hoped for Bumrah to bounce back to form. A defeat or two in the upcoming games would, however, mark the end of the road for the Mumbai Indians, which has not won the IPL title since the 2020 season. 

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