‘You’re trying to, you know, show off. We know what Virat Kohli did….’: Sunil Gavaskar on notebook celebration of LSG bowler Digvesh Rathi | Ipl News
While Lucknow Super Giants spinner Digvesh Rathi was fined 25 percent of his match fee and one demerit point BCCI for the notebook celebration after removing Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya during the IPL match at Lucknow last evening, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the young star about his act. Rathi’s notebook celebration, once made famous West Indies bowler Kesrick Williams after taking Virat Kohli’s wicket in 2017, saw Gavaskar terming the celebration as a ‘show off’ and even talking about Virat Kohli’s response to Williams later in the series.
“I can understand the celebration if the wicket comes after the batsman hit a boundary or a six in the previous ball. As a bowler, you’ve got six deliveries. So if you got five dot balls and get a wicket of the sixth, then you do something like that, it’s not understandable. But all these gestures mean that you don’t expect to get a wicket. And now that you’ve got a wicket, you’re trying to, you know, show off. We know what Kohli did after that. He hit him for a boundary after boundary after boundary…(laughs),” said Gavaskar while on commentary on Star Sports.
The incident happened in the third over of the Punjab Kings chase when Arya tried a pull shot against a short outside off delivery Rathi and the top edge was caught Shardul Thakur. Rathi, who has played along with Arya in the Delhi premier League, then walked to Arya and held his left hand like a page and pretended to jot down the dismissal. Rathis’s act saw the on-field umpire also warning the bowler and the spinner would give away 30 runs in his four overs. Post the match, BCCI fined Rathi 25 percent of his match fee and handed one demerit point.
“Digvesh Singh, Bowler, Lucknow Super Giants has been fined 25 percent of his match fees and has also accumulated One Demerit Point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Punjab Kings at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday. Digvesh Singh admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” read the BCCI media release.
