"Are you retiring?" - Fans react as Rajasthan Royals' Ravichandran Ashwin comes up with a cryptic Instagram post
Fans were left surprised as Rajasthan Royals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came up with an emotional post on his Instagram handle about his three-year tenure with the franchise. It has raised eyebrows as to whether Ashwin is leaving the inaugural IPL champions or not.
The 37-year-old joined Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2022. Since then, Ashwin has managed to pick up 35 wickets and score 344 runs in three seasons.
Sanju Samson's men finished the 2022 edition as runners-up, having lost the final against hosts Gujarat Titans by seven wickets. The 2023 edition witnessed them finishing fifth in the table.
Here's the post:
Let's now take a look at some noteworthy reactions to Ravichandran Ashwin's Instagram post:
"Next Year Yellow ? Home coming?," a fan wrote.
"Are u retiring?," another fan commented.
"See you next year Ash. Would love to see you in Pink again," a fan expressed.
"All will Miss hala bol konjam nala bol from u Ash na," another fan posted.
"Their preferences might be, Sanju, parag, jais, jos, trent to retain! Ash anna back in yellove? Or i wish PBKS would need a captain! Or RCB, i wish to see him back at yellow, i also wish he gets captaincy somewhere else too," another fan proclaimed.
"I think ash na Home coming is very near," a fan mentioned.
Rajasthan Royals' IPL 2024 campaign ends after 36-run defeat to SRH in Qualifier 2
Despite staying on top of the IPL 2024 table for a major part of this season, the Rajasthan Royals eventually finished third, thereby missing out on the opportunity to feature in Qualifier 1. With 17 points from 14 matches, they finished behind the table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and SunRisers Hyderabad, which set up a mouth-watering Eliminator clash against the fourth-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad.
Chasing 173 runs for a place in the Qualifier 2, the Royals won the contest by four wickets with an over to spare.
Opting to bowl first in Qualifier 2, Rajasthan restricted the SunRisers to 175-9 in 20 overs. A sensational display of spin bowling from Shabaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma ensured the Rajasthan Royals fell short of the target by 36 runs thereby crashing out of the tournament.
The Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers will be going head-to-head against Kolkata Knight Riders in the final on Sunday, May 26
The Knight Riders defeated the Orange Army convincingly by eight wickets when the two sides last met in Qualifier 1.