LSG spinner Digvesh Rathi pulled out his much talked about notebook celebration after dismissing his idol Sunil Narine in today's IPL 2025 match in Kolkata.
After piling on 238-3 in the first innings, Lucknow Super Giants found themselves under the pump with the ball as KKR came out all guns blazing. Quinton de Kock hit two sixes and perished for a nine-ball 15. Ajinkya Rahane replaced him and continued the attack as he had Narine for support at the other end.
KKR reached a mammoth 90-1 at the end of six overs, scoring at 15 an over. LSG brought on Rathi, who made his debut earlier this season, right after the powerplay and he struck gold. Narine miscued a wide googly from the leg spinner, handing an easy catch to long off, dismissed for 30 off 13.
Rathi, who has been in the news as much for his bowling as his wicket celebrations, brought out the notebook once again, albeit in a different avatar. Having already been fined and given demerit points twice for his notebook-signing celebrations in the last two games, Rathi squatted and signed the Eden Gardens turf this time, smiling away as he did so.
Match 21, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants
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IPL 2025: Will Digvesh Rathi be banned?
Rathi was fined 25 per cent of his match fees and handed one demerit point for his send-off of PBKS batter Priyansh Arya. Then, he repeated the celebration after dismissing Naman Dhir of MI, for which he was fined 50 per cent of his match fees and handed two demerit points.
According to IPL's Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, any "gesture used by a Player and directed towards a batter upon his/her dismissal which has the potential to provoke an aggressive reaction from the dismissed batter, whether or not any reaction results, or which could be considered to disparage or demean the dismissed batter, regardless of whether the batter him/herself feels disparaged or demeaned (in other words, a ‘send-off’)" is considered to be a Level 1 offence.
A Level 1 offence can lead to the imposition of either one or two demerit points depending on the severity of the offence and corresponding fine. Accumulation of four to seven demerit points result in one suspension point. Each suspension point corresponds to a ban of one match.
If Rathi is sanctioned for his celebration of Narine's wicket against KKR, he will face a ban for LSG's next match against GT on April 12.
He already has three demerit points accumulated, an addition of even one more point to that will lead to the count reaching four, enough to convert it into one suspension point. If Rathi is given a stricter sanction like he was in the previous match and given two demerit points, the total will reach five for him, which will also result in a one-match ban.
Why does Rathi keep celebrating despite the fines?
In a pre-match training video posted by the Lucknow Super Giants Instagram account, Rathi was seen meeting his idol, Narine. Apart from exchanging pleasantries, Nicholas Pooran asked Rathi why he celebrates when his idol doesn't: Rathi responded by saying that his "Delhi roots bring it out of him".
Virat Kohli, a long-time exponent of on-field aggression among modern-day Indian players, also hails from Delhi. As amusing as that might be, it could lead to problems for LSG if he doesn't stop.
Rathi has been arguably their best bowler, conceding only 7.84 runs per over to go with seven wickets till the time of writing. For now, he is all but set to be banned for their next game.
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