Bhubaneswar, Sep 3: The fiery on-field exchange between Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi has grabbed the attention of the cricket fraternity, including former India spinner R Ashwin, who offered a nuanced perspective on the incident that nearly escalated into a physical altercation.

The drama unfolded when Rana, captain of West Delhi Lions, responded to Rathi’s trademark ‘notebook celebration’ by smashing a six and mimicking the gesture. The move triggered a heated verbal spat between the two players, with tempers flaring and officials stepping in to prevent further escalation

The Indian spin great noted that people seem to be irritated by Rathi showing personality as a bowler. The former CSK star, on the other hand, commended Rana for his way of handling media questions.

Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin remarked, "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."

“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.

The incident led to both players being fined for breaching the code of conduct. Rana was fined 50 per cent of the match fee for a Level 1 breach, while Rathi was fined 80 per cent of the match fee for a Level 2 breach.

Further, Ashwin said that Rana's refusal to badmouth Rathi after the game was proof of his character and sportsmanship. “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.

Article by: Lipisita Padhi

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