"Nobody has pulled him up for that" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli, unlike Digvesh Rathi, not being fined for his celebrations in IPL 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned why Virat Kohli has not been penalized for his aggressive celebrations in IPL 2025. He pointed out that Digvesh Rathi has been fined twice for his 'notebook' celebrations earlier in the tournament.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by seven wickets in Match 37 of IPL2025 in Mullanpur on Sunday, April 20. Kohli was seen celebrating aggressively at the fall of virtually every PBKS wicket and after his side's win.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wondered why Rathi has been fined twice but Kohli hasn't even been spoken to.

"The thing that caught my eye was that Digvesh Rathi did a 'notebook' celebration. He did it once and got fined. He did it a second time and got fined. He got scared the third time, saying he is not earning as much as he would lose in fines. So he has started writing something on the ground," Chopra said (6:55).

"Then we saw Virat Kohli's celebration at the end of the PBKS-RCB match, that was also pure aggression. However, no one said anything to him. There is not even a rap on the knuckles. Nobody has pulled him up for that, but you did that when Digvesh Rathi did a 'notebook' celebration," he added.

Digvesh Rathi was fined 25 percent of his match fees and handed one demerit point for his celebrations after taking Priyansh Arya's wicket in the Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) IPL 2025 clash against the Punjab Kings. He was fined 50 percent of his match fees and handed two more demerit points for repeating the celebration after dismissing Naman Dhir in LSG's clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI).

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"It hasn't happened in Virat Kohli's case" - Aakash Chopra recalls MS Dhoni being fined previously in the IPL

Virat Kohli seemed to be involved in a banter with Shreyas Iyer in RCB's IPL 2025 clash against PBKS. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra recalled MS Dhoni being fined for a transgression previously, but noted that Virat Kohli didn't meet the same fate this time.

"I recall MS Dhoni was once fined 50 percent of his match fee because he entered the ground. He shouldn't have gone at all. 50 percent of his match fee was immediately cut. It could have been more than that, but there was some action. However, it hasn't happened in Virat Kohli's case," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that all players should be treated similarly for their misdemeanours.

"Don't think I am against Virat. Should the rule not be the same for everyone? Shouldn't there be a continuity in terms of what's allowed and what's not, as to what's a Level 1 or Level 2 offense, and then only the deed and not the name will be seen, whether a big player like Rohit Sharma or Ayush Badoni does that. Everyone will have to be fined equally," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that the IPL governing council might want to be stricter with the youngsters. He opined that it's fine if that's their thought process, but added that it needs to be stated explicitly so that people don't talk about a bias.