Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reacted to the recent ugly showdown between Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) as he lauded the left-handed batter for not throwing dirt at the leg-spinner during his post-match comments. Rana and Rathi, both known for their aggressive behaviour, clashed in the Eliminator, and there were some ugly scenes as the duo hurled abuses. The two almost came to blows, and in the end, they had to be separated by the South Delhi Superstarz players and the on-field officials.
The West Delhi Lions skipper, Rana, gave his own twist to Rathi’s trademark notebook celebration after hitting him for a six. The spinner did not take his well, unleashing a few words at the batter. Rana then charged towards the spinner, giving him a piece of his mind.
However, in the post-match comments, Rana refrained from detailing the incident, and he just stated that he would never take a backwards step if provoked. Ashwin lauded this statement, saying it was easy for Rana to say something against the spinner, but he chose to be the bigger man.
“I just want to say one thing, in our beloved sport, if a bowler does something, if he emerges as a character, we are not willing to accept that. Maybe in the case of this fight between Nitish Rana and Rathi, the fault would lie with the spinner. But the respect for Rana has grown in my eyes,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’.
Also Read: Digvesh Rathi hurls abuse after Nitish Rana brings out his version of notebook celebration
“It was Rana’s day. He hit 15 sixes. After the game, he was asked ‘What happened?’ The way he handled it was amazing. He said the fault could have been his or Digvesh’s. But he said that he was playing to help his team win, and Digvesh was doing that for his team. That spirit and heat are needed to play this game. It was easy for him to throw dirt on Digvesh Rathi, but he didn’t do it; he deflected the question,” he added.
‘Respect for Rana grows’
Following the conclusion of the Eliminator between West Delhi Lions and South Delhi Superstarz, the organisers fined both Rana and Rathi. Rathi was docked 80 per cent of his match fees, while Rana was fined 50 per cent.
Ashwin said that Rana gave the right response, and it was amazing to see that he didn’t go after anybody’s character despite being in the euphoria of a win
“My respect for Nitish Rana has grown multi-fold. As a spectacle, we all like to see this, but the matter of fact is that we don’t have to character assassinate anyone,” said Ashwin.
“It showed the real character of the man. It is very easy to bring someone down when you are in the euphoria of a win. But he chose not to do that. He gave the right response, and that was amazing,” he added.
In the end, West Delhi Lions eventually went on to win the DPL 2025 edition.