Image: What incidents occurred involving Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi? / © X
The cricket field is expected to turn into an entertainment show for the fans if the Delhi players are against each other. The Delhi lobby has been known for giving the most aggressive and passionate players to the Indian cricket team, and one of its prime examples is the Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir, who has been involved in a number of arguments on the field.
Recently, another incident took place involving two Delhi players, namely Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi. Both surely have been aggressive and have a history of having many heated arguments with the opposition. However, in the Delhi Premier League, it was intense for the fans as Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi got involved in a heated argument.
The argument started with Digvesh Rathi walking away after his run-up, which stopped the play. On the very next delivery, as soon as Digvesh was about to release the ball, Nitish Rana stepped aside, which once again stopped the play. Following this, Nitish Rana was able to respond well with a boundary in the same over, which led to a heated argument between both of them.
What was expected to be just a field argument also went viral on social media, as it was also posted by the official page of the Delhi Premier League. Being a proper Delhi guy, Nitish Rana posted an image on his Instagram where he was putting his child’s finger on his lips. It was a great way to showcase that he can silence anyone with his bat, as he was also the highest run scorer in the game.
Various popular cricketers also reacted to Nitish Rana’s post after the incident, making it a meeting point. Some of the notable names that can be found in his comment section include Phil Salt, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana, and even the official page of the Rajasthan Royals.
In an interview, Nitish Rana also reacted to the incident which took place in the clash between him and Digvesh Rathi. He said that he might not be deeply involved in the on-field clashes, but if anyone starts it, he won’t back down, like he did in the Delhi Premier League clash. But it should be noted that both players have been equally involved in heated clashes in their careers.
Fans might see Nitish Rana as one of the calmest players in cricket, but little do they know that he has been among the most outrageous players from Delhi.
One of the recent clashes, or might also be the only one that fans know, was between Nitish Rana and Hrithik Shokeen. This incident took place in IPL 2023, when Nitish was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the team went against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.
Nitish surely had some challenges while scoring runs in the game, but he eventually lost his wicket at a score of 5 runs off just 10 balls. His wicket came against Hrithik Shokeen, as Nitish decided to step out and attempted for a lofted shot. He mistimed it, which allowed the ball to land safely in the hands of Ramandeep Singh.
Hrithik Shokeen decided to give a send-off to Nitish Rana, but he didn’t know he was going against a Delhi guy. Nitish Rana quickly responded and came towards Hrithik Shokeen, instead of walking back to the dugout. Although Suryakumar Yadav stepped in at the right time to silence the matter, it was noticed by the fans that Nitish Rana is short-tempered.
Nitish Rana recently changed his team in the Ranji Trophy, as he went to the Uttar Pradesh team and also became the team’s captain. He went against Mumbai, but also decided to take a dig at his former teammate Yash Dhull, who was announced as Delhi’s captain, due to which he left the team.
In a match during the Ranji Trophy 2024 edition, he went against Mumbai, which was being led by Ajinkya Rahane. Rana displayed his batting prowess, as the Mumbai bowlers seemed to have no answers to what should be done to get his wicket. Soon, Rana also went to complete his century, as he notched up 106 runs in just 120 deliveries.
After completing his century, he took an indirect dig at his former teammate and Delhi captain, Yash Dhull. He showcased a celebration where he was blowing away dust from his bat, and this was not just a celebration, it was a way to showcase Delhi, whom they have lost as a potential captain.
Nitish Rana and Yash Dhull have been involved in various feuds when they belonged to Delhi. But this feud escalated when Rana was dropped from the team’s captaincy, and Yash Dhull, who had played just one season for the team, was given the responsibility to lead the team in the next season.
Another heated exchange involving Nitish Rana came during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 quarter-final match, which involved Delhi going against Uttar Pradesh. The match was intense, and the stakes were also high, but Nitish Rana seemed not to have forgotten why he left Delhi.
Nitish Rana was bowling the 13th over of the innings when Delhi’s captain, Ayush Badoni, took a quick single. When Badoni reached the non-striker’s end, Nitish Rana quickly went towards him and exchanged a few words before the clash between them escalated.
When Nitish said something to Badoni, Delhi’s captain also immediately retaliated by responding, and this led to an on-field dispute between the two players. Fortunately, the umpires were quick enough to step in at the right time, and they separated both players, which prevented the situation from escalating further. However, it was made clear that, despite not playing for Delhi, Nitish is still a pure Delhiite.
Just like Nitish Rana, Digvesh Rathi has also been involved in a number of feuds on the field, which have also been the reason why the young talent rose quickly to fame. The reason why Nitish is less noticed in such arguments is that Digvesh has mainly done his feuds in the IPL, while Nitish tries to be a bit calmer in the IPL than he usually is.
Digvesh Rathi got involved in his very first feud in the IPL against Priyansh Arya. Fans knew it would be intense to watch them perform, as both of them have been talented youngsters for their respective teams, and have also played together for a long time in the domestic format.
After Digvesh Rathi took the wicket of Priyansh Arya, it was clear that Priyansh was disappointed with his shot selection. He tried for a lofted shot but mistimed it, and it was perfectly caught by Shardul Thakur, who came running towards the middle to catch the ball successfully.
Upon taking the wicket, Digvesh Rathi ran towards Priyansh Arya and did his iconic notebook celebration. The celebration might not have had much impact on Priyansh Arya, but it had an impact on Digvesh Rathi, who was fined 25% of his match fees by the BCCI for violating the Code of Conduct.
If we take a look at the most heated clashes that took place in the IPL 2025 season, the incident that took place between Digvesh Rathi and Abhishek Sharma would definitely top the list. During a match between Lucknow SuperGiants and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Abhishek Sharma entered a destructive mode.
During the 8th over, he attempted an aggressive shot but eventually lost his wicket to Digvesh Rathi. However, he had already scored 59 runs off just 20 balls before losing his wicket, but things quickly escalated between these two stars. Digvesh Rathi did his iconic notebook celebration.
But Abhishek Sharma may not have liked the celebration, as he went back towards Digvesh Rathi, questioning him for his celebration. Both players definitely had a heated exchange of words, but they were eventually pulled off by the umpires as they tried to separate Digvesh Rathi and Abhishek Sharma.
When Lucknow SuperGiants had their last match of the IPL 2025 season against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Digvesh Rathi also angered the King, Virat Kohli, at a point in the game. Towards the death overs of the chase, Digvesh went on to take the wicket of Jitesh Sharma, who stood at the score of 49.
But fortunately, it was not a legal delivery, which gave a lifeline to Jitesh, and he used it pretty well to complete his half-century. Following that, he also rotated the strike to Mayank Agarwal, and things turned out to be more heated between these two teams. RCB eyed a top-two finish in this game, which could have been possible only if Jitesh Sharma had remained not out.
Later, Digvesh also attempted for a mankad to dismiss Jitesh Sharma, and this moment even triggered Virat Kohli, who was clearly unhappy with the appeal. Although it was not out and Rishabh Pant also withdrew the appeal, Jitesh Sharma decided to answer with his bat, as he went on to score the winning runs for RCB.