Order of demerit: Coaching staff penalised at the IPL

Till T20s came on the scene, cricket coaches would be seen away in the dressing-room balconies, taking notes, talking to the players and others. Now, with the dugout in place, coaches are more like football-team managers. None more so than Ashish Nehra, animated, involved, a non-playing player. Now, if coaches are so close to the action, the equivalent of yellow and red cards is only to be expected. Here are some who have been penalised in the IPL.

Ashish Nehra

After rain at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians (MI) had the win in the pocket if there was no further play. It was getting close to cut-off time, and GT were understandably agitated, willing the groundstaff to dry things up quickly and get at least one more over in. Nehra, the GT coach, wasn't only going to will them on. He was there, speaking to the groundstaff and the match officials animatedly to get the covers off quick. ESPNcricinfo understands that the demerit point and fine (25% of his match fee) he was slapped with was for his conduct at that tense juncture in the game. Happily, for Nehra, GT got a win out of it in the end.

Munaf Patel

Nehra wasn't the first from the coaching staff to get pulled up for crossing a line during a match in IPL 2025, his former India team-mate Munaf beat him to it. This was during the Super Over in the game between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), when Munaf collected a demerit point and coughed up a 25% match fee fine, the same as Nehra. While the IPL didn't specify what Munaf's offence was, he was spotted arguing with a match official when he was not allowed to send a reserve player into the middle to pass on a message. Like with Nehra, Munaf's team won that Super Over.

Kieron Pollard

Pollard, the MI batting coach, and Tim David were pulled up and fined 20% of their match fees during the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in New Chandigarh. Sitting in the dugout, they were found suggesting batter Suryakumar Yadav to review a wide call.

The review was allowed and MI got the decision in their favour. But later, the IPL sought footage from the broadcaster to check for the sequence of events leading up to the review, and found that Pollard and David had asked Suryakumar to take the review. As per the IPL playing conditions, the two batters can consult with each other before taking a review but cannot receive help from the outside.

Pravin Amre

Three seasons ago, before Munaf had joined the DC back room, there was Pravin Amre there, as an assistant coach. And he was banned for a game for his part in the chaotic events in the final over of the game, when he was spotted walking into the playing area and speaking to on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Nikhil Patwardhan.

It all blew up after the third delivery of the final over of DC's chase of 222. RR bowler Obed McCoy bowled a high full toss, which Rovman Powell pulled for six. But DC felt it should have been called a no-ball for height. Powell and non-striker Kuldeep Yadav asked the umpires about it, and Rishabh Pant, the DC captain, and others joined in, gesticulating from the dugout. Pant then appeared to ask Amre to go and speak to the umpire, which he did. Both Pant and Amre were slapped with 100% match fee fines, but Amre had to also serve the ban. What's worse, DC lost the game by 15 runs.