A key highlight of the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday night in IPL 2025 was a heated exchange between Abhishek Sharma and Digvesh Rathi after the bowlers' aggressive "notebook" celebrations irked the SRH batter.
The incident happened during the eighth over of SRH's chase when Digvesh got Abhishek out and celebrated with his usual notebook gesture. That was not taken nicely by Sharma and the duo exchanged some nasty words needing the umpires and LSG captain Rishabh Pant to step in quickly.
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Digvesh and Abhishek have both been penalised in the aftermath of the incident. The spinner has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees and two demerit points - leading to a match suspension. Abhishek, meanwhile, has been fined 25 per cent of his fees.
Yet, this is not the most dramatic or heated exchange in the history of the IPL . While there have been many dramatic incidents such as Harbhajan Singh slapping teammate S Sreesanth or the most recent spat between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq which also involved Gautam Gambhir.
Perhaps the cake for the most shocking on-field spat came in IPL 2014 between Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc .
In the incident on May 6, 2014, Starc delivered a bouncer at Pollard , who missed a hook attempt. After the ball, Starc approached the batter and exchanged a few words, to which Pollard responded by waving him off.
As Starc prepared to bowl the next ball, Pollard backed away outside the leg stump, pulling out of the delivery just as Starc was about to release it. Despite this, the Aussie seamer continued with the ball, bowling it angrily close to Pollard’s legs.
Pollard reacted by swinging his bat forcefully — seemingly threatening to throw it at the bowler — and accidentally dropped it on the leg side. Both players appeared visibly angry and kept exchanging words.
Later, Starc ran Pollard out and, before dislodging the bails, taunted the stranded batter, urging him to try and make his ground.
Both players, like in this situation, were penalised for their roles. Pollard was docked 75 per cent of his match fees while Starc was fined 50 per cent.
The incident happened during the eighth over of SRH's chase when Digvesh got Abhishek out and celebrated with his usual notebook gesture. That was not taken nicely by Sharma and the duo exchanged some nasty words needing the umpires and LSG captain Rishabh Pant to step in quickly.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
Digvesh and Abhishek have both been penalised in the aftermath of the incident. The spinner has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees and two demerit points - leading to a match suspension. Abhishek, meanwhile, has been fined 25 per cent of his fees.
Fight between Digvesh Rathi and Abhishek Sharma 😳 pic.twitter.com/8ngcvpnIVK
— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒂 (@SheraVK18) May 19, 2025
Yet, this is not the most dramatic or heated exchange in the history of the IPL . While there have been many dramatic incidents such as Harbhajan Singh slapping teammate S Sreesanth or the most recent spat between Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq which also involved Gautam Gambhir.
Digvesh Rathi and all is fine.
— Extraa Cover (@ExtraaaCover) May 19, 2025
But nothing beats the Pollard vs Starc the greatest on-field clash in IPL history !! pic.twitter.com/9JtbCudmo7
Perhaps the cake for the most shocking on-field spat came in IPL 2014 between Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc .
In the incident on May 6, 2014, Starc delivered a bouncer at Pollard , who missed a hook attempt. After the ball, Starc approached the batter and exchanged a few words, to which Pollard responded by waving him off.
As Starc prepared to bowl the next ball, Pollard backed away outside the leg stump, pulling out of the delivery just as Starc was about to release it. Despite this, the Aussie seamer continued with the ball, bowling it angrily close to Pollard’s legs.
Pollard reacted by swinging his bat forcefully — seemingly threatening to throw it at the bowler — and accidentally dropped it on the leg side. Both players appeared visibly angry and kept exchanging words.
Later, Starc ran Pollard out and, before dislodging the bails, taunted the stranded batter, urging him to try and make his ground.
Both players, like in this situation, were penalised for their roles. Pollard was docked 75 per cent of his match fees while Starc was fined 50 per cent.
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