Digvesh Rathi Suspended for One Match After Accumulating 5 Demerit Points

The IPL 2025 season may be winding down for Lucknow Super Giants, but tensions boiled over in dramatic fashion during their clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday night at the Ekana Stadium.

Digvesh Rathi has been slapped with a one-match suspension and fined 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct yet again. This latest infraction came during LSG’s home game against SRH, where Rathi's now-signature “notebook celebration” landed him in hot water. After dismissing Abhishek Sharma — who had just hammered a blistering 59 off 20 balls — Rathi pulled out the celebration right in front of the departing batter. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t go down well. Abhishek immediately reacted with some choice words, and before long, the two were locked in a heated exchange. Umpires and players quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. 

But the drama didn’t end there. 

During the post-match handshakes, tensions flared up again. During the post-match handshake between the two teams, Abhishek was stopped by LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya, who had a small chat with the India T20I batter. Abhishek and Rathi shook hands but kept going at each other verbally. Later, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla was seen stepping in to speak with both players and help cool things down. 

This marks Rathi’s third Level 1 offence this season under Article 2.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct, racking up two more demerit points to take his total to five. That triggers an automatic one-match ban, meaning he’ll miss LSG’s final fixture of the season against Gujarat Titans on May 22 in Ahmedabad. His previous offences came in matches against Punjab Kings (April 1) and Mumbai Indians (April 4). As for Abhishek, he didn’t walk away scot-free either. The explosive opener has been hit with his first demerit point and fined 25 percent of his match fee for his part in the altercation. 

The fiery scenes capped off a tough night for LSG, who were officially knocked out of the playoff race following their six-wicket loss to SRH — a defeat largely orchestrated by Abhishek's early onslaught.