‘Asked umpires why did they do it?’: R Ashwin ‘surprised’ by sudden ball-change | Cricket

Rajasthan Royals sealed a narrow victory vs Chennai Super Kings in Match 17 of IPL 2023, winning by three runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chasing a target of 176 runs, CSK were restricted to 172/6 in 20 overs, despite crucial knocks from Devon Conway, MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane. Conway slammed 50 runs off 38 deliveries, meanwhile Dhoni hammered an unbeaten knock of 32 runs off 17 balls. On the other hand, Rahane played a quick knock of 32 runs off 19 balls. Meanwhile, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were in good bowling form for RR and bagged two wickets each.

Initially, RR posted 175/8 in 20 overs, with Jos Buttler smacking 52 runs off 36 balls and Devdutt Padikkal clattering 38 off 26 deliveries. Meanwhile, Shimron Hetmyer hit an unbeaten knock of 30 runs off 18 deliveries. For CSK’s bowling department, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande and Akash Singh scalped two dismissals each.

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The match also saw the umpire change the ball for dew on their own, which left Ashwin surprised. Speaking after the match, the veteran complained that the decision left him ‘flummoxed’. “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. I mean, it’s just the middle – left me flummoxed in a good or a bad way. It’s because I think what you need is a little bit of balance”, he said.

“As a bowling team, we are not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpire’s 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. You can do whatever you want, but you just need to be in a standard going forward”, he further added.

RR are currently on top of the IPL 2023 table with six points from four matches, packed with three wins and a defeat. They are followed by Lucknow Super Giants in second position with six points in four games, with net run rate being the only difference. Kolkata Knight Riders are in third position, followed by Gujarat Titans in fourth, CSK in fifth and Punjab Kings in sixth place. The teams placed from third to sixth have the same number of points, with net run rate being the only difference. Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore are in seventh position, followed by Mumbai Indians in eighth, Sunrisers Hyderabad in ninth and Delhi Capitals bottom in the ten-team table.