Digvesh Rathi, the player responsible for Naman Dhir’s notebook-writing celebration in the IPL 2025 match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday night in Lucknow, has been penalized with a 50% reduction of his match fee and two demerit points. Additionally, LSG captain Rishabh Pant was also fined INR 12 lakh for his team’s sluggish over rate during their victory against MI by 12 runs.
Rathi’s second violation and subsequent penalty under Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct resulted in a fine of 25% of his match fee. This occurred when he made a similar gesture towards Priyansh Arya and made contact with him during a defeat in Lucknow on April 1. This previous incident also added one demerit point to his record. His most recent breach, which occurred while he was far from the batter, led to an even larger fine and an additional two demerit points, bringing his total up to three after the previous incident.
Per the IPL Code of Conduct, accumulating four demerit points results in a suspension point, which requires the player to miss one match. These demerit points will stay on a person’s record for 36 months, therefore Rathi must exercise caution in future seasons as well.
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Rathi was reminded by the match officials of the rule and the reason for his penalty after his first offence. However, on Friday, he once again received a warning. He explained that during his initial sanction for charging towards the batter, he had believed it was permissible.
The 25-year-old debutant from Delhi, who is also a mystery spinner, received a reprimand during his first IPL season. This occurred on the same day he had his best performance of the season so far. Mumbai Indians were chasing LSG’s total of 203 for 8 and held a strong position throughout their innings until they stumbled towards the end and ultimately lost. Rathi’s economy rate was an impressive 5.25 as he took 1 wicket for 21 runs. The other LSG bowlers in the game all had an economy rate of over 10 runs per over. As a result, Rathi was named the Player of the Match.
Pant, who struggled with the bat once again, only managing to score 2 runs in six balls after lackluster performances in his previous three innings, joined the list of captains fined for their team’s sluggish over-rates in IPL 2025. This included both Hardik Pandya of MI and Riyan Parag of Rajasthan Royals (RR).
