"Those small little things are important to win the entire battle" - Amol Muzumdar on Ravichandran Ashwin's cameo vs GT in IPL 2023
Amol Muzumdar has pointed out how Ravichandran Ashwin's cameo with the bat was instrumental in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) beating Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in their IPL 2023 clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The former cricketer noted that Ashwin tilted the game in RR's favor with his quick-fire knock, scoring 10 runs off just three balls in the crucial penultimate over of the run chase.
Speaking about the veteran spinner's batting exploits, here's what he told ESPNcricinfo:
"Those small little things are important to win the entire battle. Ravichandran Ashwin's innings just changed the course of the game, just made them believe that they're going to win this game in spite of the runs they needed and Mohammed Shami steaming in. Ashwin's small little knock will be talked about in the dressing room."
A gem of a knock from Shimron Hetmyer and a brilliant fifty from the skipper has helped the Royals with a superb victory 🔥
📸: IPL
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Notably, RR successfully chased down 178 runs against the defending champions with four balls to spare. Ashwin, who walked out to bat in the 19th over, hit Mohammed Shami for a six and a four off back-to-back deliveries.
"He may have got it wrong, but Ashwin was reading him like a book" - Amol Muzumdar on Mohammed Shami's 19th over
Mohammed Shami bowled a sensational spell with the new ball, sending the in-form Jos Buttler back to the dressing room for a duck. The senior pacer, however, leaked runs in the crucial 19th over, conceeding 16 runs.
Amol Muzumdar believes that despite the underwhelming over, Shami continues to be an invaluable asset for the Gujarat-based side. He suggested that the fast bowler played a major role in the team winning the IPL trophy last year, saying:
"The quality of Mohammed Shami is second to none. The way he bowls with the new ball. Of course, his economy shoots up high when he is bowling in the death, but then again, he knows what he is doing and knows how to deal with it. All the bowlers, they go for runs in death overs.
"He may have got it wrong, but Ashwin was reading him like a book, and those two balls changed the entire course of the game. So you cannot blame somebody. He is a great asset for Gujarat Titans and is probably one of the reasons why they won the league last year."
During the discussion, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody also emphasized that Shami has won games for his team with his spells towards the backend of the innings on several occasions.
He opined that with the margin for error being very low, the bowler tends to lose the battle against the batters in the death overs even if he misses his mark ever so slightly. Moody elaborated:
"It's easy to sit back and be critical of someone's final over because I've also seen Shami bowl brilliantly at the death and win games unexpectedly. When you're playing that role as a death bowler, you do have to accept you're getting servings from different hands.
"Sometimes it comes in your favor and you're hailed as a hero, like we've seen Sandeep Sharma recently, and other times it doesn't work for whatever reasons because you're marginally off. Without knowing what he was thinking and trying to bowl, it's hard to be crucial. But I'd be very surprised if he wasn't trying to bowl in the block-hole."
Updated IPL 2023 Points Table after match 23 🏏
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It is worth mentioning that RR secured their first-ever win against GT. The two sides locked horns thrice in the previous edition, including the final. Hardik Pandya and Co. emerged victorious on all three occasions.
However, the Sanju Samson-led side managed to snap their losing streak this time around, claiming their fourth win of the season to sit comfortably at the top of the IPL 2023 points table.