In a do-or-die DPL 2025 Eliminator, Digvesh Rathi and Nitish Rana wrangled in a disrespectful verbal confrontation. Rana-led West Delhi Lions geared up to chase a monumental 202 in a high-voltage match against South Delhi Superstarz on August 29 (Friday). The furious moment arrived at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi as a similar dispute unfolded in the ongoing tournament, as it used to be in the Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The leg spinner Rathi, who was featured in Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025, made headlines for his controversial notebook celebrations, drawing him under the scanner on various occasions. It is an offence under the code of conduct for the tournament. Consequently, he faced a monetary fine with demerit points to suffer from a ban for one match and a 50% penalty on the match fee. Surprisingly, the derogatory celebration was against India batter Abhishek Sharma, who represented Sunrisers Hyderabad.
A few months later, the notebook celebration is creating buzz, but this time, Rana dared to take this impulsive step while Rathi was bowling to him. The heated moment surfaced when Rathi suddenly restricted himself from completing the bowling action as Rana was ready for a sweep shot. Rathi deployed a similar style while bowling for LSG in the IPL 2025.
The in-form batter Rana wasn’t happy with Rathi playing tricks against him. The left-hander turned away from the wickets, refusing to play the next ball and exchanged heat through his words, “Chal dalta reh chal”.
In the next delivery, Rana finally sent the bowl towards the boundary for a six as he hit a reverse-sweep. The skipper repeated the signature style of Rathi with a notebook celebration using his bat, prompting the leg spinner to open his mouth to reveal a few words. Instantly, Rana looked frustrated and came up with an aggressive temperament to attack the bowler. Seeing this grave situation, South Delhi Superstarz disconnected both of them, and this rift was wrapped up there.
Rana beautifully led West Delhi Lions to win the match by a big margin of 7 wickets as he smashed an unbeaten 134 in 55 balls to propel his team beyond the target in only 17.1 overs.
