David, who scored 24 runs off 17 balls in the final, was found guilty of violating Article 2.9 of the Code of Conduct, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Team Official, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during a Match.”
The incident took place during the 10th over of Gujarat Titans’ innings. After a wicket fell, David threw an ice bag in the direction of on-field umpire Nitin Menon. Match Referee Javagal Srinath imposed the penalty after David admitted the offence and accepted the sanction.
It was David’s third Level 1 offence of the season. He had earlier received one demerit point in Match 20 and two demerit points in Match 54. The latest breach added another two demerit points, taking his total to five.
Under IPL regulations, a player who accumulates five demerit points receives a one-match suspension. As a result, David will miss the opening match of IPL 2027, whether he plays for RCB or another franchise next season.
The Australian batter finished IPL 2026 with 305 runs from 16 matches and was part of the RCB side that successfully defended its title.
RCB’s victory over Gujarat Titans made them only the third team in IPL history to retain the trophy after Chennai Super Kings (2010 and 2011) and Mumbai Indians (2019 and 2020). The Bengaluru franchise also became the fourth team to win multiple IPL titles, joining Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, who have five titles each, and Kolkata Knight Riders, who have won three.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar also entered the record books by becoming the first skipper to win the IPL in each of his first two seasons as captain. He is only the third captain to secure back-to-back IPL titles after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.
