Riyan Parag pays heavy penalty for vaping inside team dressing room

Riyan Parag has been fined 25% of his match fee for vaping inside the team dressing room during match No. 40 of the IPL at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.

The Rajasthan Royals captain has also accumulated one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials. He breached Article 2.21 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which pertains to the kind of behaviour that "brings the game into disrepute". Parag has admitted to the offence, and the fine imposed on him by the match referee, Amit Sharma.

This is not the end of the row, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also mulling more options to take stringent action against the entire Rajasthan Royals squad and the team management to set a precedent and ensure that an offence of such kind doesn't get repeated.

"The BCCI is also exploring other options to initiate proceedings for stringent action against the erring team, its officials and player/s to ensure that the reputation of IPL remains intact," an IPL press release revealed.

Parag was caught vaping on camera during the course of the match against Punjab Kings, and the video and images of the incident soon caught the internet by storm.

Riyan Parag woefully out of form

Parag is woefully out of form for Rajasthan this season. The right-handed batter has accumulated just 117 runs in nine matches at a paltry average of 14.62 and a strike rate of 124.46. He is yet to register a century or a fifty.

On the contrary, Rajasthan Royals have done quite well. They have already accumulated 12 points in nine games with six wins and three losses. They are only the fourth team in the competition with a positive net run rate (0.617).