It's been another thrilling season for the Indian Premier League in 2026 with high-scoring games and a tight race to reach the playoffs.

While all the attention has been on the cricketing action, the league is also dealing with an increase in player and staff misconduct. So far with 46 out of the 70 league stage matches completed a number of players and team staff have been penalized under the Code of Conduct.

At present, Punjab Kings lead the table on 13 points from 9 games but the focus has been shifted to conduct with 8 players and staff members already fined and issued with demerit points due to several different offenses.

Multiple infringements cause problems.

The first penalty was relatively early in the tournament Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma was fined 25 percent of his match fee after using audible obscenities during an Eden Gardens game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. This offense earned him a demerit point as well.

The second incident and the first time that off-field activity came under scrutiny saw Rajasthan Royals manager Romi Bhinder fined ₹1 lakh for being seen on his mobile phone in the dugout during a match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which is in breach of IPL regulations.

Next was Delhi Capitals Nitish Rana who was fined after a dispute with the fourth umpire following a request for a glove change for Tristan Stubbs. This offense also brought him a demerit point.

Finally, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Tim David was warned after being seen refusing to return the ball to the umpires for the first time against the Mumbai Indians.

On-field temper and captaincy penalties.

Several players have lost control on-field this season. Nandre Burger of the Rajasthan Royals has been penalized for his aggressive celebration after the dismissal of Rishabh Pant who he was already on his last warning after the incident with the all-rounder in the match against Gujarat Titans. Young Angkrish Raghuvanshi was punished after his display of frustration which saw him throw his bat and helmet after being given out.

One of the biggest headlines of the season was Riyan Parag of the Rajasthan Royals who was punished for using a vape pen in the dressing room during a game against the Punjab Kings. This was an infringement of Indian law, which brought unwanted attention to the tournament. Delhi Capitals Kyle Jamieson was also warned and received a demerit point for an aggressive send-off given to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Captains also felt the sting: both Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana have been fined for slow over rates while Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Hardik Pandya and Ajinkya Rahane have also picked up fines.