The controversy between Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi took place during an Eliminator match of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 between West Delhi Lions (Nitish Rana’s team) and South Delhi Superstarz (Digvesh Rathi’s team). The incident involved a heated on-field altercation in the second innings.
What Actually Happened?
The fight started when Digvesh Rathi, while running in to bowl, suddenly stopped without delivering the ball. This annoyed Nitish Rana. To get back at him, Rana also pulled out from facing the next delivery. When Rathi finally bowled, Rana reverse-swept him for a six. After hitting the shot, Rana mocked Rathi by copying his own bat-signing celebration. This led to a heated argument where both players shouted abuses and almost got into a physical fight. The umpires and other players had to step in and separate them.
As a result of this incident, both players were fined heavily for code of conduct breaches. Digvesh Rathi was fined 80% of his match fees for “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game,” a Level 2 offense. Nitish Rana was fined 50% of his match fees for using an obscene, offensive, or insulting gesture, a Level 1 violation. The incident attracted considerable attention and debate over behavior and sportsmanship in the league.
Although the controversy, Nitish Rana had an outstanding performance with an unbeaten 134 off 55 balls, helping his team chase a massive target successfully.
In summary, the controversy was an intense verbal spat fueled by on-field tensions that escalated to near physical confrontation, resulting in significant fines for both players involved.

