Delhi boys Rana and Rathi in ugly face off in DPL game

What's a Delhi Premier League match without a bit of needle?

Nitish Rana is a star in Delhi cricket. Digvesh Rathi, in the little we have seen of him, has shown that he has no problem getting under the skin of opponents, as well as getting on the wrong side of match officials, again and again.

So when the two went head-to-head in a match between West Delhi Lions (Rana's team) and South Delhi Superstarz (Rathi's team), sparks flew. Rathi was the bowler. He went through his action but didn't release the ball, Rana mock-swept it, Rathi walked back, smile on his face. As one would expect, when Rathi went again, Rana backed out. At that point, though a few words were exchanged between the two, the commentators seemed to be enjoying the needle in the middle.

Soon, when both of them were ready to play, Rathi bowled, and Rana reverse-swept him for a six over deep point. Rana walked down the pitch, kissing his bat in celebration. We don't know who said what, but someone did start things off, and the next visuals we saw were of Rana walking angrily towards Rathi. The umpire, Gayathri Venugopalan, and the fielders came between the two - Rathi was walking off anyway, though not quietly, while Rana looked like he wasn't happy just mouthing off - and things did eventually calm down.

Rathi, no stranger to coughing up big fines if you remember IPL 2025, was fined 80% of his match fee for his troubles, which were deemed "contrary to the spirit of the game", while Rana was fined 50% of his match fee for "using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting".

They were not the only ones to be poorer at the end of the heated game. Krish Yadav ("use of audible obscenity following an abuse from the opposing team player and pointing the bat towards the player") was fined his entire match fee; Sumit Mathur ("using language, actions or gesture which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from another player") was fined 50% of his match fee, and Aman Bharti ("use of audible obscenity") was fined 30% of his match fee.

For the record, Rana vs Rathi went to Rana, since he scored the century that took West Delhi Lions to Qualifier 2 and eliminated South Delhi Superstarz.