Sunrisers Hyderabad opening batter Abhishek Sharma was fined 25% of his match fee and received a demerit point for breaching the Indian Premier League Code of Conduct during the team's match against Kolkata Knight Riders on January 31, 2026, IPL officials announced.
Sharma scored 48 runs off 21 balls in the match, hitting four sixes and four fours. The IPL statement read, “Abhishek Sharma, All-rounder, Sunrisers Hyderabad, has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees and has also accumulated one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday. He admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.3 and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.”
Sharma also reached a milestone during the match, hitting his 101st six for Sunrisers Hyderabad. David Warner remains the franchise’s leading six-hitter with 143 sixes. In 76 matches and 73 innings for SRH, Sharma has accumulated 1,808 runs at an average of 26.58 with a strike rate of 162.88, including one century and nine half-centuries.
Sunrisers Hyderabad achieved their first win of the 2026 IPL season with a 65-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata. The match featured quickfire innings from Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma, along with strong bowling performances from Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Batting first, SRH posted 226 for 8, powered by Klaasen’s 52 runs from 35 balls, Sharma’s 48 from 21 balls, and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 39 off 24 balls. In their chase, KKR started strongly with Finn Allen scoring 28 in seven balls and Angkrish Raghuvanshi making 52 in 29 balls but collapsed to 161 all out in 16 overs.