For violating the Code of Conduct during his team’s IPL 2025 match against the Punjab Kings on Tuesday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, bowler Digvesh Singh Rathi of the Lucknow Super Giants was fined 25% of his match fees and received one demerit point.
Digvesh Singh accepted the Match Referee’s sentence after acknowledging committing the Level 1 offense under Article 2.5. The Match Referee’s ruling is definitive and enforceable for Level 1 violations of the Code of Conduct.
In Match 14 of the current IPL 2025, Punjab was chasing the 172-run mark set by the hosts, Luckow, when the incident occurred in the third over of the chase. Shardul Thakur finished with a straightforward catch after Rathi misplaced Priyansh Arya’s ball in the air on the fifth delivery of the over. His send-off gesture to the batter was deemed inappropriate, and he was given a fine in addition to a demerit point punishment.
During his last spell, Rathi claimed another wicket, this time dismissing Prabhsimran Singh, the other opener, ending his 84-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer. Nevertheless, Punjab won the match by eight wickets with 22 balls remaining, and they were the only two wickets they lost.
In addition, Punjab Kings had to bowl first on Tuesday, and the team quickly put Lucknow to the test when Mitch Marsh left the game cheaply. Rishabh Pant, the captain, also left for two runs off five balls. Only Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran looked at some form of consolation, which ultimately helped them reach a respectable total. Even yet, Punjab Kings had no trouble reaching the mark in just 16.2 overs, thus that was insufficient.
In the meantime, the second league match of the 2025 season will be between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans. On Wednesday, April 2, the Shubman Gill-led team will travel to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for their first away game of the season. With their second victory of the season, GT will also be seeking to move up the table, while RCB will retain their top spot if they win this.
