PBKS vs RCB, IPL 2026: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hard-hitter Tim David's celebration after their win over the Punjab Kings on May 17, Sunday in Dharamshala has come under the scanner.
According to an account on the social media platform of X, David performed a 'thigh-five' celebration on Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta's face to mock the franchise, who slid to their sixth consecutive defeat to see their playoffs hopes fade further. Hence, the account claimed he could be fined.
PBKS vs RCB, IPL 2026: Did Tim David perform a thigh-five celebration on Preity Zinta's face?
The Singapore-born cricketer has already landed twice in hot waters. The first time he got into trouble was during Match 20 when he didn't obey the umpire's instruction of handling the ball and found to have breached Level 1 of the IPL's Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials and Article 2.4 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which relates to "disobeying an umpire's instruction during a match." As a result, David copped 25% of fine of his match fees and got one demerit point. Meanwhile, the next penalty came after Match 54 when he allegedly showed middle finger to the Mumbai Indians and their fans after RCB's thrilling win in Raipur. Apart from 30% of fine on match fees, the 30-year-old accumulated two demerit points.
As far as the incident on Sunday goes, there is no clarity on whether or not he performed the thigh-five celebration on Zinta's face. Even if David did, it is unlikely to result in a fine.
PBKS vs RCB, IPL 2026: No Rajat Patidar, no problem for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as Venkatesh Iyer steps up
The Royal Challengers had suffered a jolt as Rajat Patidar sat out due to concussion, with Jitesh Sharma leading RCB. But Virat Kohli responded with a half-century after Iyer sent the reigning champions into bat despite another failure for Jacob Bethell. Venkatesh Iyer, promoted to No.4, top-scored with 73, while Tim David smashed a 12-ball 28 to take their side to 222/4.
Punjab Kings lost Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer cheaply in the powerplay itself. The likes of Cooper Connolly (37), Suryansh Shedge (35), Marcus Stoinis (37) and Shashank Singh (56) tried their best but it was not enough to prevent a 23-run defeat.