During the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the umpires changed the ball due to heavy dew at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This decision left Rajasthan Royals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin confused, as he had never seen the umpires take such a step before. Ashwin expressed the need for consistency in such decisions while speaking about the incident.
Despite the change in the ball, Rajasthan Royals went on to win the game by three runs in a thrilling finish. The Chennai Super Kings skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Ravindra Jadeja were unable to score 21 runs off the last over in their chase of 176 for victory. Ashwin returned figures of 2/25 and was surprised by the umpires' decision to change the ball.
Call for consistency in umpiring decisions
"I'm quite surprised the umpires changed the ball for dew on their own. It's never happened before, and I'm quite surprised. Some of the decisions in this year's IPL on the field have left me a little flummoxed to be honest," said the India stalwart at the post-match press conference.
"I mean, (it) left me flummoxed in a good or a bad way. It's because I think what you need is a little bit of balance," said Ashwin, who was adjudged 'Player of the Match'.
"As a bowling team, we are not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpires' accord. I did ask the umpire, and he said we can change it.
"So I just hope every time there is dew, they can change it every single time going forward in this IPL that sort of, you can do whatever you want, but you just need to be in a standard going forward," he added.
Performance and strategy
The Royals spinner said he was enjoying the way he was bowling and looking forward to deceiving the batters a lot more with his flighted deliveries.
"I'm just enjoying the way I'm bowling, and I'm not giving it too much thought. For someone like me, who bowls in different phases of the game, I have to be prepared to bowl at different lengths, speeds, and trajectories.
"So, I think what I've realised is that even Sanjay (Manjrekar) asked me 'are you keeping it a lot more simple?' You keep it simple only when you attain a certain amount of mastery over things, I feel. I think, I probably gauge things and deliver what I think is the best for that situation.
"So, for me, at the moment, I'm just really enjoying my bowling, and I'm looking forward to deceiving the batsman a lot more in the flight. That's because of where I find myself with bowling," Ashwin added.
Dismissal of Shivam Dube
Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about his performance in Wednesday's game, particularly his dismissal of Shivam Dube. Ashwin anticipated that Dube would try to do the same against him. Ashwin managed to dismiss Dube for just eight runs, preventing the hard-hitter from settling down and causing damage to the Rajasthan Royals' bowling attack.
"Didn't have any deliberate plans, but I feel the ball is coming out really well, I'm able to get it to drop, I'm able to put enough revs, I'm able to use both my variations, my length and the arm ball at the moment are really good. I'm just happy with the way it is coming out," he added.
Nature of pitch
"I felt like I was playing in a Test match when he (Jadeja) was bowling. It was just raging a few balls, these are the things we are going to encounter with different teams in different home grounds.
"I just felt it was perfect for a left-arm spinner to hit that spot at side spin, good speed. Jadeja was unplayable for those 2-3 overs, the ball was spinning from outside leg stump sometimes. We had to bide our time and try and pick our matchups," added Ashwin.
