"We had a few practice games also where I opened" - RR's Ravichandran Ashwin reveals preparations for batting at the top

Ravichandran Ashwin smashed four boundaries and two sixes en route a 37-ball fifty [Credits: IPL]

Premier all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) started molding him to bat at the top of the order in the pre-season itself. His maiden T20 fifty tonight went in vain as the Delhi Capitals (DC) coasted to an eight-wicket win at the DY Patil Stadium.

Walking in as early as the third over, Ashwin strung crucial partnerships with Yashasvi Jaiswal (19 off 19) and Devdutt Padikkal (48 off 30) to finish with a polished 50 off 38 balls. The 35-year-old stated that he was made to open the innings in two practice games before IPL 2022 and came into the season knowing exactly his flexible batting role.

“There is no license that has been given. Starting from the season, it was communicated properly to me that they’d be using me up the order. We had a few practice games also where I opened, and yeah, kind of enjoyed it. I have worked a lot on my batting and it’s nice to see that whatever’s been worked translates on the field. So yeah pretty good feel about the knock today, but nevertheless, it didn’t come in a winning cause,” he said at the post-match press conference.

The No. 2 Test all-rounder batted till the 15th over, but the foundation laid by him came to no avail as some excellent death bowling by DC meant that the Royals could only manage 35 runs in the final five.

Before tonight, Ashwin twice strode out to bat at No. 3. In Rajasthan’s fifth game of the season against the Gujarat Titans (GT), he scored a run-a-ball 8. Two matches later, he was again tried out in that position against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he produced a cameo of 17 off 9 deliveries.

Asked how the role of a pinch-hitter changes once he gets himself in, Ashwin said there was constant consultation with the dugout about whether to play in the same gear or take it deep. He further remarked that the pitch drastically changed in the second half, thus making life easier for the DC batters.

“Today the pitch wasn’t quite the easiest, so there was communication around that. Obviously the communication to keep going or to just play for a few more overs and set it up – whatever it is – just keeps coming in. Most often than not, [when] you find yourself hitting the 100-run mark within the 13th over, you end up getting 180. That’s generally the kind of algorithm that works and today again we hit the 100 mark on quite a tough pitch when we were batting first.

"I think maybe about 15 or 20 runs short at the end. But like I said, you never really know until both the sides have played. We’ve made a good feast of these sort of scoring runs in the past, but tonight, nothing really went our way in the second half. So yeah, it was not our day,” Ashwin said in response to a Sportskeeda query.

Mitchell Marsh (89 off 62) and David Warner (52* off 41) forged a clinical 144-run third-wicket stand as the Capitals chased down 160 with 11 deliveries to spare.

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A brilliant chase from @DelhiCapitals as they win by 8 wickets and add two crucial points to their tally.

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“Worth the weight in gold” – Ravichandran Ashwin on Hetmyer’s costly unavailability

Shimron Hetmyer has been in red-hot form this season [Credits: IPL]

Sanju Samson and Co. are desperately missing the services of Shimron Hetmyer. The southpaw, who has been a rampaging force at the back end of the innings, has flown back to Guyana to attend the birth of his first child. The 25-year-old has accumulated 291 runs this season at a stunning average and strike rate of 72.75 and 166.28 respectively.

Ravichandran Ashwin also echoed similar sentiments while highlighting the luck factor that eluded them tonight. Two difficult catches didn’t stick in Jos Buttler’s hands, while Warner had a lucky escape as a Yuzvendra Chahal (1 for 43) delivery clipped the leg-stump but the bails didn’t get dislodged.

“Hetmyer has gone back home for the birth of his child. So Rassie came in place of Hetmyer for this game. Obviously Hettie has been giving us a good finish towards the end in most of the games and a finisher is always worth the weight in gold. I thought even the toss was pretty crucial today, because the wicket was a touch tacky.

"And obviously, if we had a bit of a luck or taken the catches, maybe the game would have taken a different course. But yeah, these things do happen. At the back end of the tournament, there’s always pressure and hopefully we can turn it on and string a couple of wins together,” Ashwin reiterated.

RR remain in third with 14 points under their belt, while DC solidified their case for a playoffs berth with six wins and as many losses. Both IPL teams are left with two games.