The modern era of T20 cricket revolves around one key trait: innovation and mystery. Traditional spinners are finding it harder to survive, as mystery spinners continue to take center stage. This season, a new mystery spinner has emerged. Digvesh Rathi captured attention not just with his exceptional bowling but also with his unique send-off—the “Notebook” celebration. This rising star who idolizes the legendary Sunil Narine is steadily carving out a name for himself in the IPL.
Credits: Neharald
Digvesh Rathi Early Life: From Batter to Bowler
Born in Saboli, in the northeastern part of Delhi, Digvesh Rathi found the path to success wasn’t easy. He has a sibling, Sunny, who was also a left-arm spinner. With his father as the sole breadwinner, his salary couldn’t support both careers, so Sunny had to leave cricket.
Digvesh Rathi began his cricketing journey as a batter, idolizing one of Delhi’s greatest batting icons, the explosive and fearless Virender Sehwag. However, as often happens in many academies, the more renowned players got to bat first. By the time Digvesh came to bat, either the bowlers were too tired or they weren’t interested enough.
When Digvesh played good shots against those bowlers, he bruised their egos. As a result, most people didn’t bowl to him, and only his brother would bowl for hours. However, this really limited him as a batter, so he made the switch from batting to spinning.
In 2017, Digvesh Rathi joined the Dronacharya Academy in Delhi under Sachin Shukla’s guidance. When he joined, he was an off-spinner and bowled like a conventional off-spinner. In his first year, he took over 40 wickets from just 14 games playing for the Delhi Blues club.
Setbacks and the Digvesh Rathi’s Transformation
Digvesh Rathi felt shattered when selectors left him out of the Under-19 Delhi side, despite shortlisting him as one of the probables. With the weight of managing his family’s expenses on his shoulders, this news broke him. He also injured his collarbone in 2020.
He used the lockdown time to work on his fitness. This was when he decided that being a conventional off-spinner wouldn’t work in the modern game, and chose to bring mystery to his bowling.
The Sunil Narine Effect on Digvesh Rathi
Digvesh Rathi is a huge fan of Sunil Narine. His WhatsApp and Facebook profile pictures were of Narine. Even now, his jersey number is ’74’, the same as Narine’s. He started emulating Narine’s bowling action as well.
What stands out about Digvesh is his determination to keep trying. He kept bowling for hours to improve his accuracy and worked on variations like the googly, carrom ball, and seam-up deliveries.
His relentless hard work paid off when Delhi Capitals picked him up as a net bowler for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders selected him for the same role, allowing him to work with his idol, Sunil Narine.
Digvesh Rathi Breakthrough: Delhi Premier League Success
Credits: Sportstar
He got his big breakthrough when South Delhi Superstarz picked him up in the Delhi Premier League. However, that came with obstacles. Until then, Digvesh Rathi had never played with a Kookaburra ball and was bowling at high pace.
Former Indian cricketer Sarandeep Singh, a spinner himself and the team’s director, asked Digvesh to reduce his speed and lure batters with flight. He wanted Digvesh to be attacking and pick wickets, instead of just stemming the run flow.
Digvesh Rathi ended up as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the season with 14 wickets from seven games, at an impressive economy of just 7.82. He later joined Delhi’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, playing only a couple of games and picking up three wickets.
IPL Debut and the Controversial Notebook Celebration
Credits: India Today
Digvesh Rathi was picked up in the 2025 Mega Auction for ₹30 lakhs. Starting as a backup spinner to Ravi Bishnoi, he impressed everyone in his maiden outing. In his debut game against Delhi Capitals, he picked up 2 wickets at just 7.75 runs per over. He took crucial wickets of Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam, both of whom were going strong. Even though LSG lost that game, they found a star.
The Notebook Celebration Controversy
In their next encounter against Punjab Kings, Digvesh Rathi came to bowl the third over and dismissed the swashbuckling Priyansh Arya. He celebrated that wicket by doing the infamous “Notebook” celebration, indicating that he had written Priyansh’s name in his notebook of wickets.
This drew significant criticism and resulted in a demerit point. He also received a fine of 25% of his match fees. Digvesh later revealed that he and Priyansh were close friends. However, he wasn’t concerned about the criticism and kept aggressively celebrating wickets in upcoming games.
He received another demerit point when he did the same against Sunrisers Hyderabad after taking Abhishek Sharma’s wicket, and also got involved in a heated conversation. After receiving two demerit points, he was banned from LSG’s fixture against Gujarat Titans.
He even attempted a run-out at the non-striker’s end in LSG’s last league match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. All these incidents speak volumes about Digvesh Rathi’s character. He is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and is always up for a fight. He didn’t mind the outside noise and kept doing what he does best—going out on the field and performing.
Digvesh Rathi Season Statistics and Future Prospects
Digvesh Rathi finished the IPL season with 14 wickets from 13 innings at an impressive economy of 8.25. His performances throughout the season demonstrated that he might become the next big thing from the crop of mystery spinners in India.
His journey from Delhi’s streets to IPL stardom represents the dreams of countless young cricketers across the country. With his unique bowling style, unwavering determination, and fearless attitude, Digvesh Rathi has established himself as one of the most promising young talents in Indian cricket.
The mystery spinner’s story is far from over. As he continues to develop his craft and add more variations to his arsenal, cricket fans can expect to see more magical moments from this rising star.
Interested in reading stories of Uncapped Indian players? Check out the backstory of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, India’s upcoming Bazooka!
Click here – Vaibhav Suryavanshi
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