Ravichandran Ashwin has made the headlines again and this time it is not for a mankad dismissal in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). In Rajasthan Royals (RR) clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Ashwin became the first batter in the history of IPL to get retired out.
Ashwin got retired out in the penultimate over of Royals’ innings to make way for Riyan Parag in the middle. There was nothing illegal about the decision but a move like that has not been opted in the first 14 seasons of the cash-rich league.
Parag did not do excessive damage in the remaining deliveries but hit a six off Jason Holder in the final over of the innings. The RR all-rounder scored eight runs from four deliveries.
Earlier, Ashwin was sent ahead of Parag after a mini-batting collapse in the middle overs reduced Royals to 67/4. The veteran helped rebuild Royals’ innings with Shimron Hetmyer. In the 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket, he scored 28 runs from 23 deliveries including two fours.
Ashwin played second fiddle to Hetmyer in the partnership that helped Royals post a fighting total of 166/5. In the 19th over, Ashwin took a single off Avesh Khan and started running towards the dugout. While many were left surprised by Ashwin walking out of the ground, Parag walked in and took guard.
After Hetmyer played an unbeaten 59-run knock off 36 deliveries, he was asked about the surprise move during the innings break to which he replied, "I had no idea about it - he was also a bit tired. It was a good decision, as the kid (Parag) hit a six for us."
The move surprised Royals’ fans. Former England cricket Michael Vaughan reacted to the bizarre-yet bold move. Vaughan tweeted: Retired OUT .. love it ..
Former West Indies fast bowler lauded Royals' tactics as well as he tweeted, "Ashwin retired out is fascinating T20 tactics. T20 is causing us to rethink the way we conceive the game of in the 21st century.
Former Australia cricketer Lisa Sthalekar had a similar opinion as she tweeted, "Retired OUT....it was only a matter of time we saw it in the #IPL2022 Makes a lot of sense."
