Have you noticed Ashish Nehra losing his temper as a coach often? As a player, it may have happened a few times, but since Gujarat Titans’ debut season in 2022, where they have been performing exceptionally well in the IPL, Nehra has been mostly seen in a happy state. Although he is always restless in the dugout, he rarely sits and is usually either talking to captain Hardik Pandya or strategizing with mentor Gary Kirsten.
However, during a recent match, Nehra displayed a different side of himself. Although Gujarat Titans won comfortably in their final home game, securing their spot in the playoffs, Nehra lost his cool for a brief moment during the match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a similar fate to Rajasthan Royals on Monday, collapsing while chasing Gujarat Titans’ 189-run target. Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma took four wickets each, reducing SRH to 154/9. Despite this, Heinrich Klaasen’s 64 off 44 balls made the final scorecard look respectable.
However, the Nehra incident occurred during the first innings. After losing Wriddhiman Saha in the first over, Gujarat revived themselves through a 147-run stand between Shubman Gill and Sai Suharsan. However, Nehra appeared displeased with the team’s performance during the latter part of the innings.
When Gill scored his maiden IPL century, all the GT members and players stood to applaud him, except Nehra, who remained seated and showed no emotion. Commentators Aakash Chopra and Saba Karim were baffled by Nehra’s reaction, suggesting that he expected more from the team and hence did not celebrate the century.
On May 7, when Gill was chasing his century, GT had scored over 200 runs, but on Monday, they fell well short of the mark. SRH later made a remarkable comeback, taking six wickets in the last three overs, including four in the final over, as GT managed only 188/9.
During this collapse, Nehra was seen furious with the batters for their rash shots. After the innings, he had a heated conversation with captain Hardik, and both appeared quite animated. GT director of cricket Vikram Solanki later tried to calm Hardik down after Nehra left.