Rathi had been fined match fees for his celebration in the last two matches
Lucknow Super Giants spinner Digvesh Rathi achieved something many youngsters dream of in his budding Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 career. The rookie bowler got the prized wicket of his inspiration Sunil Narine in the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Rathi was able to peg back KKR’s momentum in chase of a mammoth 239 by firing the ball in to the crease and wide outside off-stump for Narine who went for a loft over covers and got caught quite easily by Aiden Markram at deep extra cover.
Narine departed for 30 off 13 balls and was looking dangerous with four boundaries and two sixes by taking KKR’s score to 91/1 inside just 6.1 overs.
But unlike his typical ‘Notebook’ celebration in the last two games that attracted the referee’s ire and fetched him match fee fines, Rathi this time signed on the ground, probably as a mark of respect for his idol.
After his match-winning spell of 1-21 from his four overs in the win against Mumbai Indians, Rathi spoke about his admiration for Narine.
“I watched Sunil Narine bowl and from that time I took to bowling. I want to make my mindset more attacking, want to be like Narine, on how he stays calm even during pressure situations,” the 25-year-old said in the post-match presentation.
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Rathi soon enough met Narine during a net session at the Eden Gardens before Tuesday’s clash and was introduced to the all-rounder by Nicholas Pooran.
Rathi immediately made everyone around laugh by saying that he does the notebook celebration because he is from Delhi.
Celebrating against Narine is a daring move by the youngster in his first IPL season as he has already accrued two demerit points from the IPL and a match fee fine of around INR 20 lakh so far.
Rathi’s dismissal played a crucial role in LSG defending their big total after they cruised to 162 inside 13 overs.
Shardul Thakur got the big wicket of KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane on 61 off 35 balls while lead spinner Ravi Bishnoi got the better of hard hitter Ramandeep Singh with an excellent googly in the 14th over.
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