Digvesh Rathi Fined Again for Notebook Celebration Against MI

Lucknow Super Giants’ spinner Digvesh Rathi landed himself in controversy for the second consecutive match with his “writing in my notebook” celebratory gesture when playing the match against the Mumbai Indians at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.

Repeat Offence Leads to Heavier Penalty

Only four days after he was fined 25 percent of his match fees for the provocative celebration,Digvesh Rathi’s fine was doubled to 50 percent for his animated gestures after dismissing MI’s Naman Dhir during LSG’s eventual 12-run win.

IPL Committee Statement Confirms Sanction on Digvesh Rathi

“Digvesh Rathi , Bowler, Lucknow Super Giants has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Mumbai Indians at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Friday.This was his second Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 this season and hence, he has accumulated Two Demerit Points, in addition to One Demerit Point which he accumulated during LSG’s match against Punjab Kings on April 01, 2025,” a statement from the IPL committee read.

Notebook Gesture First Surfaced Against PBKS

In LSG’s last match, Rathi unleashed the party after sending Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya back to the pavilion. The action occurred in the third over of the Punjab Kings chase.

The Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya attempted a pull shot against a short outside off delivery from Rathi but could only top edge it into the hands Shardul Thakur.

Digvesh Rathi, who has been playing along with Arya in the Delhi Premier League then proceeded to Arya and took his left hand like a page and acted as if writing down the dismissal.

Rathi’s drama got the on-field umpire warn the bowler too and the spinner would concede 30 runs in his four overs. After the match, BCCI penalized Rathi 25 percent of his match fee and gave one demerit point.

Sunil Gavaskar Criticizes On-Field Antics of Digvesh Rathi

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rathi’s antics, stating: “I can understand the celebration if the wicket comes after the batsman hit a boundary or a six in the previous ball. As a bowler, you’ve got six deliveries. So if you got five dot balls and get a wicket of the sixth, then you do something like that, it’s not understandable.”

“But all these gestures mean that you don’t expect to get a wicket. And now that you’ve got a wicket, you’re trying to, you know, show off. We know what Kohli did after that. He hit him for a boundary after boundary after boundary…(laughs),” said Gavaskar while doing commentary.