IPL stars, Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi, engaged in a heated face-off during the Eliminator clash of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 last week.

Nitish emerged as the star for West Delhi Lions with a sensational knock of 134* (55), helping his side chase down 202 in 17.1 overs against South Delhi Superstarz.

During his innings, the southpaw had an intense battle with Digvesh and a video of their ugly spat went viral on social media.

In the clip, Nitish can be seen saying a few words to Rathi and then imitating his trademark notebook celebration on his bat after hitting the wrist-spinner for a six.

Rathi was left annoyed by Rana’s antics, and ended up exchanging some comments, which didn’t go down well with the left-hander as he charged towards the bowler angrily, leading to an altercation.

As the tempers flared, other players and the match officials had to intervene to separate the two.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, ex-India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reacted to the ugly showdown involving Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi, lauding the former for not throwing dirt at the leg-spinner during his post-match comments.

After the game, Rana refused to share details of the incident, as he just stated that he would never take a backwards step if provoked.

“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.

“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.

Both players were handed penalties for code of conduct breach in the DPL 2025 fixture. Rathi was docked 80 per cent of his match fees, while Rana was fined 50 per cent.

Ashwin said Rana’s response was apt, and it was amazing to see that he didn't go after anybody's character despite being in the jubilation 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,” Ashwin stated.

“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 remarked.

In the end, the Nitish Rana-led West Delhi Lions clinched the DPL 2025 title by defeating Central Delhi Kings in the summit clash.