“Virat Kohli has spoken to umpires in that tone” - Virender Sehwag’s huge statement on Digvesh Rathi after LSG vs RCB IPL 2025 match

Former India batter Virender Sehwag called out the alleged hypocrisy of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Code of Conduct regulations following Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) Digvesh Rathi's one-match suspension. The wrist-spinner was handed a ban for his altercation with SunRisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Abhishek Sharma after unleashing his infamous 'notebook' celebration.

Since it was Digvesh's third such offence during the tournament, he was banned for one match. He was unavailable for the clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT), and returned to the playing XI for the last league match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Lucknow.

Virender Sehwag opined that the ban handed to Digvesh Rathi was harsh considering that he is new to the league, and big names have been excused in the past for similar offences.

"I thought that the ban was a bit harsh. The boy is playing in his first year in the IPL. MS Dhoni had barged into the ground, he was not banned then. Virat Kohli has spoken to umpires in that tone, who knows how many times, he was also not banned. So, Digvesh Rathi could have been spared, because he is a young player, just come in to the scene, could have let that one go," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

MS Dhoni had entered the field during the IPL 2019 clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The veteran skipper was unhappy about a no-ball decision, and confronted the on-field umpires.

Digvesh Rathi brought out a variation of his notebook celebration against RCB in IPL 2025

The uncapped spinner had seemingly dismissed Jitesh Sharma during the home clash against RCB in Lucknow, before it was ruled out due to a backfoot no-ball.

Digvesh Rathi had celebrated by signing Jitesh's name on the ground. He had repeated his trademark celebration, albeit in a different style this time around, despite being already reprimanded for it during the competition.

The spinner finished with figures of 0-36 off his four overs, and ends the campaign with 14 wickets at an economy rate of 8.25.