Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) successfully defended their IPL title after the Men in Red, led by a superb innings by Virat Kohli on the big night, beat the Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets and 12 deliveries
to spare in Ahmedabad. It was a special win for the RCB men, who had spent close to two decades without the title and tasted success twice in consecutive years. Understandably, the celebrations were huge.
But even before RCB, spearheaded by Rajat Patidar, could lift the coveted IPL trophy, their player Tim David got in trouble for his actions towards the umpire on the field during the 10th over of the Gujarat Titans and now sees a match ban in the IPL.
Since then, the hard-hitting batter from Australia has earned the “gunda” nickname from Indian cricket fans for several on-field antics in the recently concluded season.
Here’s what they listed:
Tim David Throws Ice On Umpire
During the IPL final between GT and RCB, Tim David “aggressively” threw an ice bag in the direction of the on-field umpire Nitin Menon. This breached the league’s Code of Conduct, and the powerhitter was fined 50% of his fees. The Aussie received two Demerit Points for a Level 1 offence under Article 2.9 of the Code of Conduct.
In short, David will miss the first match of IPL 2027 irrespective of which team he plays for.
Middle Finger To Mumbai Indians
Tim David rejoiced a win over the Mumbai Indians in a rather serious manner with a straight face and flipping off his opponents. David was in the RCB dugout when his side clinched a final-over thriller over the Mumbai-based franchise.
His actions did not go unseen and he was slapped with a fine of 30% of his match fee and was handed 2 demerit points.
“Tim David, All-rounder, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has been fined 30% of his applicable match fee and has also accumulated two demerit points for breaching Level 1 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team officials,” the statement read.
Disobeying The Umpire
During the early days of IPL 2026, David earned his first demerit point during a match against the Mumbai Indians. David smashed a six off Hardik Pandya, and the Mumbai Indians requested a ball change as it was wet.
He also felt displeased with the shape of the replacement ball midway through the innings, which resulted in a delay of the proceedings. The on-field umpires, Virender Sharma and Swaroopanand Kannur, weren’t happy with David’s actions as the Australian batter drew sharp criticism from fans online as well.
Noting that his actions were against the rules of IPL, David was handed 1 demerit point for his antics.
“David was found to have breached Article 2.4 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which relates to ‘disobeying an umpire’s instruction during a match’,” IPL said in a statement.
“The first incident occurred when the umpires changed the ball during the 18th over (17.2) of RCB’s batting innings. He wanted to have a look at the ball and did not hand it over despite being repeatedly asked to do so. The second incident occurred during the 20th over (19.2), when he again did not hand over the ball to the umpires, amounting to repeated failure to comply with the instructions or directives of the umpires.”
The ‘Gunda’ Of IPL 2026
IPL fans, upset over the conclusion of a two-month-long cricket carnival, were more than pleased to return to IPL tweeting as they flooded X (formerly Twitter) with videos of David out in the wild and directed jibes at the Australian cricketer.
Tim David fined 50% of match fee + 2 demerit points for throwing ice bag in direction of umpire Nitin Menon (IPL Code breach).
Now on 5 points → suspended for RCB’s 1st match of next IPL season. pic.twitter.com/D4CPhvH95L
— Ghar Ke Kalesh (@gharkekalesh) June 1, 2026
This is the reason tim david got banned. He's just a 6 foot 3 inch unserious guy 😭 pic.twitter.com/6M7YizS3qf
— ` (@worshipVK) June 1, 2026
ARGHHH I can't imagine any of these guys in a different jersey, man! 😭😭😭 Keep the mega auction away from us!pic.twitter.com/qEysTfZkwQ
— TIM DAVID (@Timdavidpr) June 1, 2026
Tim David gundagardi in IPL😭
-threw an icebag at Nitin Menon during IPL Final.
-showed middle finger after the win against MI
-failed to obey umpire’s decision during a match against MIHe seems to have issue against Mumbai Indians players💀 pic.twitter.com/x0OMlo6pdo
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) June 1, 2026
David had more than a decent run with the bat as the RCB finisher ended IPL 2026 with 305 runs and a strike rate of 188.27.
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