He took one wicket in his spell of four overs.
Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) Digvesh Singh Rathi pulled off another notebook celebration while playing against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash on April 8. Taking the wicket of an important all-rounder, Sunil Narine, Rathi once again bowled a match-winning spell.
Batting first, LSG put up a mammoth 238/3, riding on emphatic eighties from Mitchell Marsh (81 off 48) and Nicholas Pooran (87 off 36). Aiden Markram also stepped up to the occasion with 47 off 28. However, the chase looked gettable for KKR with Quinton de Kock and Narine as openers. But Rathi removed the all-rounder bowling just his second ball of the game. As Narine walked out of the park, Rathi repeated his popular celebration of the notebook – writing a name in the air and striking it off aggressively.
However, to avoid facing grave repercussions, Rathi modified his behaviour. Instead of rubbing his happiness on the batter’s face, he turned his imaginary pen to the ground.
Previously, he has celebrated in a similar fashion after snaring Punjab Kings’ Priyansh Arya and Mumbai Indians’ Naman Dhir.
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The Delhi-born player was initially fined 25% of his match fee and given one demerit point for his first celebration. For a second offence, he received a more substantial penalty, with a 50% match fee and two additional demerit points. With three demerit points already on his record, the BCCI has reprimanded Rathi again for breaching Article 2.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which prohibits actions that could provoke or demean a dismissed batter.
Today’s incident resulted in another demerit point, bringing his total to four. It is the threshold for a one-match suspension.
Under IPL regulations, accumulating four demerit points within 36 months leads to a suspension, meaning Rathi now faces an immediate ban if he crosses the line once more.
Despite Rathi’s show of aggression, he’s a valuable bowler for LSG. During today’s match, though he returned with just one wicket, he controlled the run-flow like no other. In his quota of four overs, he leaked 33 runs – which includes four boundaries and two wides. He’s the only bowler who didn’t allow the batters to hit a six off his ball. His economy rate of 8.25 is the lowest among Akash Deep, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, and Ravi Bishnoi, each of whom went for at least 11 rpo.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli is also known for his intense celebrations after an opponent batter gets out. He has faced the repercussions while donning the national jersey as well. However, he has seldom reacted to the face of the opponent. His body language is pointed towards the bowler or his own teammates, which makes Kohli’s case less hostile than Rathi’s.
Going back to LSG’s match, Rathi’s spell was indeed game-changing as KKR were restricted to 234/7. The visitors at the Eden Gardens won the match by a small margin of four runs.
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