The LSG debutant was fined thrice by the BCCI in the IPL 2025.
Former India player Virender Sehwag has criticised the action by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to ban the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi. Following the dismissive and on-field altercation with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Abhishek Sharma, the LSG bowler was handed a one-match ban against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Previously, Rathi was also fined twice in this IPL 2025 by the regulatory board for his “notebook” celebrations after scalping wickets.
“This was his third Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 this season and hence, he has accumulated two Demerit Points, in addition to three Demerit Points he had accumulated earlier. One Demerit Point against Punjab Kings on April 01, 2025 and two Demerit Points against Mumbai Indians on April 04, 2025. As he now has Five Demerit Points this season – which result in a one-game suspension – Digvesh will now be suspended for LSG’s next game – against Gujarat Titans on May 22, 2025 in Ahmedabad,” quoted a BCCI statement.
SRH youngster Abhishek was also fined and handed demerit points by the BCCI. However, he bagged the Player of the Match award that night for his quick 59-run knock off 20 balls. SRH went on to win that clash by six wickets.
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The former India opener opined that the one-match ban was a rough call over the LSG debutant Rathi. He recalled how the stalwarts, including the former Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni and the former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Virat Kohli, have escaped the wrath of the BCCI despite breaching the on-field code of conduct multiple times.
“I thought that the ban was a bit harsh. The boy is playing in his first year in the IPL. MS Dhoni had barged into the ground, he was not banned then. Virat Kohli has spoken to umpires in that tone, who knows how many times, he was also not banned. So, Digvesh Rathi could have been spared, because he is a young player, just coming into the scene, could have let that one go,” stressed Sehwag to Cricbuzz.
The 25-year-old has often made the headlines this season for his celebrations on the ground. However, the spinner has had a decent season in his debut in the cash-rich league. Rathi has bagged 14 wickets in 13 matches at an impressive economy of 8.25.
However, his franchise, LSG, couldn’t make it to the IPL 2025 playoffs. Rishabh Pant and Co. finished off the league stage in seventh place, with six victories in 14 matches.
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