Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) spinner Digvesh Rathi was banned for a game and also handed demerit points after his altercation with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Abhishek Sharma earlier in the season.
Rathi, who became famous for his signature send-off celebrations were warned several times by the on-field umpires before he was finally imposed with a fine.
However, that did not deter him from coming up with his celebrations with even Ravichandran Ashwin defending him after his recent 'Mankad' incident against Jitesh Sharma in the last league match of IPL 2025.
Also Read: Who’s Notebook Next in the Notebook? Digvesh Rathi’s Reaction to Virat Kohli Question Goes Viral
Ban Was Bit Harsh - Virender Sehwag Backs Digvesh Rathi
After Ashwin, now former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has also backed Digvesh Rathi and came to his support. Talking to Cricbuzz, he said that Rathi could have been spared as it was his first IPL season. He also recalled moments when the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli had altercations with on-field umpires.
"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," Sehwag said, speaking on Cricbuzz.
On MS Dhoni, the moment Sehwag referred to was in IPL 2019 when he stepped onto the ground and had an intense argument with the on-field umpires over a controversial no-ball decision. Back then, Dhoni was just fined 50 percent of his match fees.
Also Read: LSG vs RCB - Why Was Jitesh Sharma Ruled Not Out Despite Being Out Of His Crease
Why Was Digvesh Rathi Banned
Meanwhile, the actual reason behind Rathi's ban was that he had already accumulated three demerit points due to his notebook celebrations that were deemed as Level 1 offences by the IPL Code Of Conduct. Rathi's dual with Abhishek Sharma was his third offence of the season which took his demerit points tally to five which is the reason why he was given a one-match ban.
"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," BCCI said regarding Rathi's ban.
Also Read: IPL 2025: No Digvesh Rathi, but notebook celebration goes viral as LSG's Akash Singh brings it back
