Ravichandran Ashwin, a veteran spinner for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), had a fantastic time upon his return to the MA Chidambaram Stadium against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), taking two wickets and scoring 30 runs in a victory for his team.
Following the conclusion of the match, Ashwin made an intriguing statement in which he stated that he is “confused” by certain umpiring decisions during the current IPL 2023 season.
The on-field umpires made the decision to change the ball during the run chase because the Chennai venue receives a significant quantity of dew during games. The decision appeared to have benefited the Royals, as the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, and Yuzvendra Chahal took five wickets between them to hinder CSK‘s pursuit using the new ball.
In the post-match press conference, Ashwin emphasized this point and stated that the decision to change the ball due to the dew element contributed to the success. However, he also said that he was surprised—in a “good or bad” way—by the umpires’ independent decision and that going forward, there should be consistency.
“I’m quite astonished that the umpires changed the ball to dew by themselves. This has never occurred before, and I am quite astonished. Honestly, some of the decisions made on the field during this year’s IPL have left me a little perplexed. I mean, the middle left me unsure of whether it was good or awful. Because I believe you need a little balance,” Ashwin explained in the post-match press conference.
“We are not requesting that the bowling ball be altered. But the ball was changed at the discretion of the umpire. I did ask the umpire, and he confirmed that we can alter it. Ashwin added, “Therefore, I hope that every time there is dew going forward in this IPL, they can change the ball. You can do whatever you want, but you need to be consistent going forward.”
Rajasthan won the thrilling game after pacer Sandeep Sharma demonstrated his mastery with the final delivery to stop MS Dhoni from scoring a lot. Royals returned home with two crucial points and will compete against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, April 16.
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