Digvesh Rathi teases BCCI, risks getting banned with new version of notebook act after dismissing Sunil Narine
Digvesh did not get near Sunil Narine but his nature of celebration could land him in trouble as he is just one demerit point away from getting banned.
The repeated fines and sanctions imposed by the BCCI have had little impact on Digvesh Rathi as the Lucknow Super Giants spinner continued to celebrate his wickets in an unusual manner in IPL 2025. On Tuesday, Digvesh risked getting banned by bringing out a new version of his notebook celebration after dismissing Kolkata Knight Riders' Sunil Narine at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Chasing a daunting 239 for victory, KKR got off to a flying start courtesy Narine and Quinton de Kock. After de Kock was dismissed for 15 off 9 balls, Narine and captain Ajinkya Rahane continued to smash the LSG bowlers as KKR reached 90 for 1 in the first overs. Seeing his medium pacers being taken to the cleaners, LSG captain Rishabh Pant threw the ball to his best spinner in the tournament, Digvesh Singh Rathi.
The leg-spinner got results as early as his second ball. He tossed his googly wide, asking Narine to reach out and generate all the pace, which the KKR stalwart could not do, providing a simple catch to long off. As Narine was walking back to the pavilion, Rathi was seen signing his name on the grass. The leg-spinner did not get near the batter, nor did he say anything but his nature of celebration could land him in trouble as he is just one demerit point away from getting banned.
Interestingly, Narine is Rathi's inspiration for starting to bowl bowl spin.
History of Digvesh Rathi's notebook celebration
This wasn’t Rathi’s first brush with controversy. Earlier in the season, he was fined 25% of his match fee and handed one demerit point for the same celebration after dismissing Punjab Kings’ Priyansh Arya. Days later, he repeated it against Mumbai Indians’ Naman Dhir, incurring a heftier 50% match fee fine and two more demerit points. With three demerit points already on his record, the BCCI has now 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. Tuesday’s incident earned him another demerit point, bringing his tally to four—precisely the threshold for a one-match suspension.
Under IPL rules, four demerit points within 36 months equate to one suspension point, meaning Rathi faces an immediate ban if he crosses the line again.
