Did Digvesh Singh Rathi dodge a bullet from BCCI despite playing with fire during KKR vs LSG IPL 2025 clash?

Lucknow won the game by four runs, scripting their third straight win against the franchise in IPL, as they took the fifth spot in the points table.

Roped in for INR 30 lakhs at the mega auction last year after impressing the Lucknow scouts with his performance in the inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League (DPL), Rathi has proven to be a masterstroke for the franchise thus far and has emerged to be captain Rishabh Pant’s go-to bowler. In just five matches so far in the season, he has picked up seven wickets at an economy rate of just 7.75.

One of those wickets came in the match against Kolkata, where he dismissed his idol Sunil Narine in the first over after the powerplay. Going up against Narine for the first time in his career, he got the better of the KKR opener in the second ball of his match. He dished out a google on full length outside off as Narine threw his bat at it but failed to get enough power on it. Aiden Markram slightly adjusted at long-on and comfortably grabbed it to give LSG a second breakthrough in the match.

Following the dismissal, Rathi did not go anywhere close to the batter to give a send-off as he brought out a fresh celebration. Instead of the ‘notebook’ celebration, which did not sit well with the BCCI, he went with the ‘writing on the grass’ act.

The tweaked celebration might be because of BCCI’s warnings on the first two occasions, but it did work for Rathi, who seems to have dodged a bullet.

Did Digvesh Rathi escape BCCI ban?

Rathi had earlier been punished for his Kescrick Williams-style ‘notebook’ celebration. He first brought it out after dismissing PBKS opener Priyansh Arya, for which he was fined 25 per cent of his match fees and handed one demerit point. The youngster did not pay heed to BCCI’s wrath as he pulled off the celebration yet again after dismissing Naman Dhir of Mumbai Indians, for which he was charged 50 per cent of match fees and handed two demerit points.

Had Rathi been punished again, he would have been charged with a hefty fine of 75 per cent of match fees and handed more demerit points, which could have resulted in a one-match suspension. Rathi would have then missed Lucknow’s next game against Gujarat Titans on Saturday at home.

However, Rathi might have escaped the punishment. BCCI usually makes announcements pertaining to the ‘code of conduct’ breach by the morning following the match. But while the Indian board penalised PBKS batter Glenn Maxwell for Level 1 offence under article 2.2 (abuse of fixtures and fittings during the Match) in the match against Chennai, which was the second game on Tuesday, no such announcement was made on Rathi, who was part of the first game.

It would now be interesting to see if Rathi persists with this celebration or brings out a new one in the game against Gujarat.