Ranji Trophy 2026 final: J&K captain Paras Dogra gets punished by the BCCI for headbutting Karnataka's KV Aneesh

During the 2026 Ranji Trophy Final in Hubballi, Jammu & Kashmir captain Paras Dogra faced a 50% match fee fine for headbutting Karnataka's KV Aneesh after a verbal spat.

J&K captain Paras Dogra was seen headbutting Karnataka's KV Aneesh. Image | X

During the Ranji Trophy 2026 Final in Hubballi, the game took a dark turn as the BCCI punished Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) captain Paras Dogra with a heavy fine following a physical altercation on Day 2 of the match. Dogra, the experienced star of the domestic circuit, was penalised 50% of his match fee for headbutting Karnataka’s substitute fielder, KV Aneesh, during his innings. That incident changed the course of the match as Karnataka went all-in after J&K with short balls and sledging.

What exactly happened?

The tension reached its peak during the 101st over of J&K’s first innings. Paras Dogra, the J&K captain, who was batting on a gritty half-century, had just somehow edged a delivery from pacer Prasidh Krishna for a boundary. Krishna, who had bowled a short ball, did not bounce that high, but it had shocked Dogra and edged it in an uncomfortable way, which went through the gaps in the gully region.

After the boundary, as Dogra stood his ground, a verbal spat broke out with KV Aneesh, who was fielding at the forward short leg.

Dogra, who is naturally very calm in his nature, suddenly headbutted the young Karnataka player, which stunned everyone on and off the field.

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The aftermath in the middle

Umpires Rohan Pandit and Ulhas Gandhe were forced to rush in as Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal and veteran KL Rahul stepped in to defend their teammate after the headbutt from the veteran star. Rahul and Agarwal were seen in a verbal heated exchange with Dogra.

While Dogra reportedly offered an apology at the end of the over for his action, reports suggest that Aneesh refused to accept it from the J&K captain.

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As per a few reports, Aneesh was verbally attacking Dogra before and throughout that over and was mocking his achievement of scoring 10,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy, which eventually triggered the 41-year-old batter.

At the end of Day 2, J&K are dominating in their maiden Ranji Trophy final at 527/6 in 156 overs, riding on Shubham Pundir's 127 on Day 1 and fifties from Dogra, Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Abdul Samad.

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