Abhishek Sharma and Digvesh Rathi got into a heated spat |Courtesy - screengrab
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Digvesh Rathi's celebration sparked controversy
- Abhishek Sharma lost his cool
- SRH beat LSG by six wickets
Digvijesh Rathi's trademark 'notebook celebration' came to bite him in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday (May 19) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium, Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Chasing 206, Abhishek Sharma ensured that SRH got a quick start despite the absence of Travis Head. The Sunrisers opener made a knock of 59 in 20 balls. While the youngster was taking the game away from the Rishabh Pant-led side, Rathi gave them a ray of hope by getting the wicket of Abhishek, who was threatening to win the game on his own back.
Rathi celebrated his wicket in a familiar fashion with the 'notebook celebration'. However, Abhishek was far from pleased with the leg-spinner's reaction and replied to him with some heated words. The matter escalated as Rathi came towards Abhishek, who was evidently furious.
At this point, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant tried to stop Rathi, while the umpire also got involved and told Abhishek to walk back towards the dressing room. However, the SRH opener continued to fire back at Rathi while going off the field.
Later, replays showed that after his trademark celebration, Rathi was spotted giving Abhishek a send-off to which presumably led to the reaction from the Indian batter.
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Rathi has been fined twice by the IPL governing council but continued with the celebration, albeit in a different manner. However, he faces a serious threat of another punishment after the incident with Abhishek, who could face sanctions.
After the match, the duo had a chat over the incident and shook hands. Later, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla was spotted having a chat with the duo.
While SRH registered a comfortable six-wicket win, Rathi impressed once again with two wickets. He also dismissed Ishan Kishan and once again celebrated with the 'notebook' gesture.
In his debut season in the IPL, Rathi has impressed and has arguably been the best rookie player with 14 wickets in 12 games at an economy of 8.18.
