The ‘notebook celebration’ made famous by Virat Kohli is back in the headlines — this time in IPL 2025. In the clash between Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, LSG leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi brought out the old-school notebook celebration after dismissing Punjab’s opener Priyansh Arya during a tense run chase.
Punjab were chasing 172 after a disciplined bowling performance had helped them restrict LSG to 171. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3/43 and setting up the game nicely for Punjab. However, Lucknow’s bowlers got an early wicket with Rathi provided the big breakthrough when he dismissed the dangerous Arya.
Rathi, known for his variations, cleverly pushed through a quicker one that caught Arya by surprise. The right-hander went for an ambitious shot but only managed to sky it straight into the hands of the deep fielder.
Rathi had bowled the first three balls slower to Arya, pushing the pace below 95kph. But off the fourth ball, he bowled considerably shorter and at pace nearly touching 100kph to deceive the young Punjab opener.
What followed caught everyone’s attention. As Arya began walking back, Rathi walked toward him and imitated the famous ‘notebook’ celebration — holding out his left hand like a page and pretending to jot down a dismissal, mimicking what Kesrick Williams did to Virat Kohli back in 2017, and what Kohli had famously responded to during a T20I in 2019 in Hyderabad.
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That particular celebration by Kohli had gone viral, both for its flair and its subtle dig at the West Indies pacer. Now, nearly six years later, Rathi brought it back on one of the biggest stages in T20 cricket. However, not everyone was pleased with the celebration.
“Do batters give such send-offs after hitting a boundary? This would suggest he did not expect to take a wicket,” Sunil Gavaskar said on air after watching the celebration, clearly not very impressed by it. That said, Rathi and Arya are teammates in the domestic circuit at Delhi, and have played quite a few games together.
The moment certainly added spice to the match with Punjab Kings cruising to a win with Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer on fire.
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