Digvesh Rathi: From learning the craft by watching Sunil Narine videos to becoming Rishabh Pant’s ace at LSG | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Around five years back, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) organised open nets for its Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) probables at a Delhi University (DU) college ground. Among the hundreds who had assembled was a young Digvesh Singh Rathi who got a chance to bowl after observing action from the sidelines.
The batters, featuring plenty of Indian Premier League (IPL) regulars, were hitting the ball out of the small North Campus ground, and one of Rathi’s deliveries received similar treatment. Without a ball to continue, he walked up to a member of the coaching staff and requested for a replacement, only to be asked to stand in a corner.
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His trial was done. He never got an opportunity to bowl again and didn’t feature in the shortlist which was released.
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Rejection was not new, but the lesson learnt that afternoon changed his bowling and life for good. Not conceding a six became his new obsession, and with no state-level opportunities coming his way, the highly competitive club and corporate fixtures in Delhi-NCR were the only games he looked forward to. Even in those matches, where he was paid for an appearance, not conceding runs remained his motto to keep getting regular games and match fees.
“Run lagte hai to bulate nahi hai ye dubara, isi liye kheech ke daalta hu (If I get hit for runs, they don’t call again. That’s why I bowl tight),” Rathi would say whenever he was asked about his bowling.
A bowler who modelled his game by watching Sunil Narine, Rathi began as the usual off-spinner who bowled a menacing carrom ball in his early days. The art of hiding the ball was picked up by watching Narine, and while it gave him control and kept the economy rate in check, the wickets column didn’t have substantial contributions. He identified it as something to be worked on after attending trials for Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, and a plan was prepared.

After watching hours of Wanindu Hasranga footage on his phone, Rathi figured out that a googly was needed. He worked on it and finally cracked a delivery which turns differently, and more than his carrom. His regular celebration, before the notebook gesture went viral, was inspired by the Sri Lankan spinner and completed his bowling package.
Rathi has played nearly 300 local games, had a stint with Delhi Capitals as a net bowler, played for Delhi U-25 in the 2022-23 season, but the magical paddle went up only at the IPL mega auction in 2024 when Lucknow Super Giants secured him for Rs 30 lakh.
Part of the Delhi Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad that season, thanks to his exceptional bowling in the Delhi Premier League where he was the find of the season with 14 scalps from 10 games, the 25-year-old watched the auction from his hotel room and was a relieved man. “IPL khelna hai… ,” was something he would say often but was lost for words when his phone started buzzing after the bid.
Just like his bowling, his cricketing journey has been anything but conventional. The payouts from local games, appearances for Delhi U-25 and net bowler stint allowed him to upgrade his two-wheeler to a Royal Enfield Bullet but the drive to challenge himself in different T20 games only increased.

For those who have watched him from a young age, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he has conceded just three sixes in four IPL games. All those sixes came against a marauding Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He had learnt his lesson during those trials back in the day, and it was his life challenges and the obsession to play the IPL which shaped the bowler he is now.
For a bowler who was picked as a backup for Ravi Bishnoi and M Siddharth, Rathi has stormed into a leading role for the Rishabh Pant-led unit and has become the toast of the nation for his celebrations and ice-cool temperament in pressure situations.