
IPL 2025 unearthed many talented domestic Indian cricketers. Digvesh Rathi is one of them.
His ‘notebook’ celebration brought him into the limelight. While the celebration played a part, Digvesh’s mystery spin made him stand out.
But the journey to the IPL wasn’t easy all along. Digvesh had to pivot to reach the top level.
Early Days
Digvesh started playing cricket along with his elder brother, Sunny. But since their father could only support one of them, Sunny left the sport.
Digvesh, meanwhile, continued to put in the hard yards. He wanted to be a batter and trained along with his brother.
But bowling was his real calling. Digvesh would often bowl in nets and deceive batters with his mystery variations.
One of his senior teammates then advised him to become a bowler. Then his journey began as a spin bowler.
Inspired by Sunil Narine, Digvesh started bowling off-spin. But he understood the hardships of an off-spinner.
He knew regular spin bowling wouldn’t take him places. So Digvesh moved to mystery spin, something his idol, Narine, specialises in.
Then he started bowling for hours and hours. He would aim to hit one stump, pitching the ball at the same spot again and again.
In the process, Digvesh worked on his variations – carrom balls, googlies, you name it. His accuracy, coupled with the variations, makes his bowling almost difficult to read.
The Struggle
Despite the skill and passion, opportunities came hard by, especially at the age-group level. Digvesh would mostly play club and corporate cricket.
The grind at the club level seemed to have paid off. Digvesh made it to the state’s under-23 squad for the 2018-19 season.
But he warmed the bench for the whole season before getting sidelined for three to four years.
Then Vijay Dahiya spotted his talent in a local club game. Dahiya offered to train Digvesh at his academy.
That’s when things started to move. Digvesh got a call-up to represent Delhi for the under-25 competitions in the 2022-23 season.
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The Big Leap
After his return to the domestic setup, the Delhi Premier League (DPL) came as a booster. Digvesh delivered a standout performance in DPL 2024. He claimed 14 wickets across 10 games.
This, perhaps, helped him get some attention from IPL franchises. And within a few months, Digvesh hit the jackpot.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) signed the mystery spinner for INR 30 lakh. His T20 debut followed soon, as he represented Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024.
Without much T20 exposure, Digvesh took a giant leap. His performance in DPL 2024 changed his fortunes completely.
The IPL Debut
LSG handed Digvesh his IPL debut right at the start. And the decision proved to be right.
The mystery spinner had a decent start to his IPL career. He dismissed Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam to finish with figures of 2 for 31.
Digvesh then continued to trouble batters and outperformed his fellow LSG spinner, Ravi Bishnoi. But his ‘notebook’ celebration brought more trouble for him.
Nevertheless, Digvesh has reached this level after years of hard work. And he looks set to reach even greater heights going forward.
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