2 min readMar 23, 2026 08:31 PM IST
Digvesh Rathi says he has something new up his sleeve for this IPL — and he is not ready to show it just yet.
The Lucknow Super Giants spinner, coming off an impressive debut IPL season, says rivals will have done their homework on him this time around. His response has been quiet and deliberate.
“I’ve worked on some variations because I feel people are watching me, they’ll try to read me,” he said ahead of the tournament. “What I’m bringing is something new — not yet revealed in the market,” he told Sports Tak.
The ‘mystery spinner’ tag that followed him into last season will be harder to sustain the second time around, and Rathi is clear-eyed about that. But rather than reinvent himself, he says the work has been about staying one step ahead without abandoning what made him effective in the first place.
On his role within the side, Rathi was straightforward. “Whatever the captain tells me, I have to do that — whether it’s wickets, death bowling, middle overs. I’m ready for all of it.” That willingness to slot in anywhere, he suggested, is precisely what the management values in him.
Rathi also spoke warmly about having captained Rishabh Pant at Delhi before linking up with him again at Lucknow. “It never felt like I was meeting him for the first time,” he said. “Off the field we laugh, we joke, we argue — it doesn’t feel like he’s that much senior to us.”
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Asked about a potential weakness in the LSG lineup, Rathi was careful with his words. The lower middle order, he acknowledged, carries less IPL experience than the star-studded top order. “The talent is there,” he was quick to add. “It’ll show this year.”
On the question of motivation, the Delhi-born spinner kept it simple. “Delhi boys don’t like losing,” he said. “Doesn’t matter where you’re playing from.”
