"Ashwin at the center of it all, destiny!" - Fans shocked as Ravichandran Ashwin becomes first player to be 'retired out' in IPL history
Rajasthan Royals (RR) made a bold move in their first innings by declaring Ravichandran Ashwin 'retired out'. This was because they wanted the hard-hitting Riyan Parag to face a few deliveries so that he could propel their total.
Ashwin has always been vocal about the 'Spirit of Cricket' debate before. He believes running out a batter, who backs up too much at the non-striker's end, is completely fair.
Fans on Twitter were both shocked and amazed that Ravichandran Ashwin was once again involved in what could be another 'Spirit of Cricket' debate.
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Here are some of their reactions:
It was always going to be Ashwin that did it, wasn't it?
The retired out can be called: The Ashwin
After running out Buttler backing up, Ashwin retiring out!!
Anna is always ahead of the league!
Mass🔥🔥🔥
Ravi Ashwin retired out!!! It’s finally happened. The future is now
Ashwin at the center of it all, destiny
Ashwin always pushing cricket in the right direction. Only he can have the courage to do this and take the criticism on the chin. You go, Anna!
Ashwin is so good. Reinventing cricket. This is gonna be followed by so many teams, especially KKR
Ashwin has been retried out! Talk about playing for the team and leading from the front, well done, @ashwinravi99 & @rajasthanroyals!
Ashwin anna 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
"I had no idea about it (Ravi Ashwin's retired out), he was also a bit tired. It was good decision, as the Riyan Parag hit a six for us." - Shimron Hetmyer
Ashwin out there treating cricket like a deep sea expedition. Man's out there discovering something new every other time.
First ever in #IPL history. Retired out, who else but #Ashwin
Imagine not liking Ashwin.
Impressive from RR and Ashwin. Did a good rebuilding job then recognised there was a better player for the situation. Would love to see more of that in T20 cricket.
@IrfanPathan Ashwin playing with all the cricket rules available 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/x8u0K7NNqJ
#RRvLSGAshwin always has a thing or two up his sleeve. This time getting retired out taking everyone by surprise. 😂😁 #RRvLSG
Ashwin is always the one dragging cricket into the future. Now I'm pretty sure we'll see tactical retired outs happen more often.
#RRvLSG
Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin help RR post 165/6
As the trend has been in the games at the Wankhede Stadium this season, KL Rahul won the toss and put the Royals into bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped, which meant that Jos Buttler had a new opening partner in Devdutt Padikkal.
RR had to make full use of the powerplay, but the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bowled really well. Despite getting off to starts, both Padikkal and Buttler couldn't quite score big and returned to the shed.
Sanju Samson played around a full toss from Jason Holder and even he had to depart. Krishnappa Gowtham tightened the screws on RR and exposed the lack of depth in their batting by cleaning up Rassie van der Dussen.
Ravichandran Ashwin walked out to bat at No. 6 and tried to stabilize the Royals' innings alongside Shimron Hetmyer. The dangerous left-hander wasn't quite timing the ball and was dropped by Krunal Pandya at a crucial juncture.
The drop proved to be costly as Hetmyer smashed one four and six sixes to remain unbeaten on 59 at the end. The ploy to call back Ravichandran Ashwin worked well for RR as Riyan Parag scored eight runs off just four balls.
Although a total of 165/6 looks below par on this pitch, the Royals will feel that they have given themselves a fighting chance, considering the position they were once in. LSG will back themselves to chase the total down as they have a power-packed batting line-up.