Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had nothing going on for them in their match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) as they lost their first home game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season by eight wickets and 22 balls remaining. The two wickets they took while defending a modest 172 belonged to Digvesh Rathi - a rookie spinner playing only his third IPL game ever.
Who is Digvesh Rathi?
Rathi caught the attention during the Delhi Premier League last year before the mega auction while playing under his LSG teammate Ayush Badoni. He picked 14 wickets in the tournament and was subsequently recommended to the franchise as an option to look into the auction.
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Come IPL mega auction, 25-year-old Rathi was picked up for INR 30 lakh ($35,000) from the uncapped players' pool and has been giving rich dividends on the investment made so far.
The leggie has picked up five wickets in three games already and that too at an economy 8.41 which is good enough given how the runs have been scored in this season.
Before the IPL, Rathi played just two T20s at the domestic level in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and had three wickets to his name.
BCCI punishes Rathi for breach of Code of Conduct
Rathi, however, got a bit carried away with his first wicket of the night when he dismissed his Delhi teammate Priyansh Arya. The spinner went to him and pretend writing his name in notebook during the celebration - a move Virat Kohli had done against West Indies pacer Kesrick Williams in a T20I in 2019. Have a look at the video below:
#DigveshRathi provides the breakthrough as #PriyanshArya heads back!
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 1, 2025
P.S: Don't miss the celebration at the end! 👀✍🏻
Watch LIVE action of #LSGvPBKS ➡ https://t.co/GLxHRDQajv#IPLOnJiostar | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi & JioHotstar! | #IndianPossibleLeague pic.twitter.com/TAhHDtXX8n
"Digvesh Singh, Bowler, Lucknow Super Giants has been fined 25 per cent of his match fees and has also accumulated One Demerit Point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Punjab Kings at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday. Digvesh Singh admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction," read a release by IPL on the matter.