CHENNAI: Rajasthan Royals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was left surprised by the umpires' decision to change the ball on their own because of the dew during the IPL 2023 match against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The heavy dew at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday night forced the umpires to intervene and change the ball during the chase, leaving Ashwin, who returned figures of 2/25, "surprised".
The Royals defeated the four-time IPL champions by three runs in a last-ball thriller, with CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja unable to score 21 runs off the last over in their chase of 176 for victory.
Ashwin said he had never before seen the umpires changing the ball because of excessive dew.
1/10:Vintage Dhoni rolls back the clock, but RR win
AFP
2/10:Vintage Stuff
<p>Dhoni hit two sixes in the final over of CSK's run-chase but Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to edge the four-time champions for a 3-run victory (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>PTI
3/10:High Fives
<p>The victory was Royals' first at the CSK fortress Chepauk since 2008 (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>IANS
4/10:Big Win
<p>The win pushed Rajasthan to the top of the table with 6 points from 3 wins in 4 matches, while CSK are now mid table with 2 wins and 2 defeats (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>AFP
5/10:Tall Ask
<p>CSK needed 21 off the last over, having been set 176 to win by Rajasthan (Photo: BCCI/IPL)</p>PTI
6/10:Thrilling Finish
<p>After a wide and a dot ball, two consecutive sixes by Dhoni, who was playing his 200th match as CSK skipper, made it 7 required of 3 balls (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>PTI
7/10:Match Winner
<p> But Sandeep Sharma had his nerves in control, restricting the Dhoni-Jadeja pair to just 3 singles off last three balls (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>IANS
8/10:Player of the Match
<p>R Ashwin brought his all-round skills to the fore for Rajasthan, first scoring a valuable 30 off 22 balls & then bowling a crafty off-spin spell of 2/25 (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>PTI
9/10:The Slip
<p>Devon Conway's 50 and Rahane's 31 gave CSK a good start, but Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu fell for 8, 7 and 1 respectively (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>IANS
10/10:The Run-Chase
<p>It was only because of Jadeja's 25 not out off 15 balls & Dhoni's unbeaten 32 off 17 that CSK remained in the game right till the end (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>PTI"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," said the India stalwart at the post-match press conference.
"I mean, (it) left me flummoxed in a good or a bad way. It's because I think what you need is a little bit of balance," said Ashwin, who was adjudged 'Player of the Match'.
"As a bowling team, we are not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpires' 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 that sort of, you can do whatever you want, but you just need to be in a standard going forward," he added.
The Royals spinner said he was enjoying the way he was bowling and looking forward to deceiving the batters a lot more with his flighted deliveries.
"I'm just enjoying the way I'm bowling and I'm not giving it too much thought. For someone like me, who bowls in different phases of the game, I have to be prepared to bowl different lengths, different speeds and different trajectories.
"So, I think what I've realised is even Sanjay (Manjrekar) asked me 'are you keeping it a lot more simple?' You keep it simple only when you attain a certain amount of mastery over things, I feel. I think, I probably gauge things and deliver what I think is the best for that situation.
"So, for me, at the moment, I'm just really enjoying my bowling and I'm looking at deceiving the batsman a lot more in the flight. That's because of where I find myself with bowling," Ashwin added.
About his bowling in Wednesday's game, especially his dismissal of Shivam Dube, Ashwin said, "He (Dube) is a designated spin hitter for CSK. The way he played Kuldeep (Sen) the previous over, I knew he was going to come after me.
Ashwin dismissed Dube for eight runs, much before the hard-hitter could settle down.
"Didn't have any deliberate plans but I feel the ball is coming out really well, I'm able to get it to drop, I'm able to put enough revs, I'm able to use both my variations, my length and the arm ball at the moment is really good. I'm just happy the way it is coming out," he added.
Ashwin, who was pushed up the order after Royals lost a couple of wickets quickly, said the pitch was offering turn and they had to bide their time as the scoring rate slowed down after a brisk start before the team finished at 175 for 8 in 20 overs.
"I felt like I was playing in a Test match when he (Jadeja) was bowling. It was just raging a few balls, these are the things we are going to encounter with different teams in different home grounds.
"I just felt it was perfect for a left-arm spinner to hit that spot at side spin, good speed. Jadeja was unplayable for those 2-3 overs, the ball was spinning from outside leg stump sometimes. We had to bide our time and try and pick our matchups," added Ashwin.
(With inputs from PTI)
