"Usko bola tha match se pehle" - LSG pacer's huge claim after recreating Digvesh Singh Rathi's signature celebration in IPL 2025 match vs GT [Watch]
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Akash Singh has spilled the beans on replicating teammate Digvesh Rathi's celebration during the IPL 2025 match against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday (May 22). The 23-year-old revealed that he had promised the leg-spinner that his absence will not be missed during the match.
Rathi had been suspended for one game by the authorities for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the game against the SunRisers Hyderabad in Lucknow. Not only the 27-year-old copped a one-match ban due to five demerit points in total, he also had to pay 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching Level 1 offence.
With Akash replicating the controversial notebook celebration after dismissing Jos Buttler for 33, he performed the same. In a video shared by the franchise on social media, the youngster explained:
"Woh dedicate mere bhai Rathi ko karna tha. Maine usko bola tha match se pehle ki tujhe ground mein miss hone nahin denge. Chinta mat kar. Tere liye parchi kaatenge." (Wanted to dedicate it to my brother, Rathi. I told him before the match that you won't be missed in the ground. Don't worry. We'll do that celebration for you.)
The left-arm seamer had finished with figures of 3.1-0-29-1 as LSG managed to edge out the table-toppers by 33 runs for a consolation victory.
LSG's win hurts Gujarat Titans' hopes of finishing on top of the points table after league stage of IPL 2025
Meanwhile, the Super Giants winning on Thursday has put into jeopardy Titans' hopes of finishing in the top two. Although Shubman Gill and co. still hold the top spot, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have two more games to go. Hence, if they win them, the pair could secure the top two spots.
Mitchell Marsh's 64-ball 117 and Nicholas Pooran's unbeaten 56 were pivotal in propelling LSG to a match-winning total of 235/2 in 20 overs. In response, only Shahrukh Khan scored a half-century for the Titans, who fell short by 33 runs. Gujarat still have one game to go and must beat the Chennai Super Kings to stand a chance of finishing in the top two.