Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin Credits: Twitter

Former West Indies skipper Chris Gayle expressed his disappointment over Rajasthan Royals’ strategy to send their star all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of Shimron Hetymer and Dhruv Jurel in the batting order. The 36-year walked into bat in the 9th over against Chennai Super Kings.

The move didn’t work as planned for the Sanju Samson-led side, as the run rate significantly dipped during the partnership between Buttler and Ashwin, as they struggled to score against CSK spinners in the spin-friendly Chepauk stadium. Speaking to the Jiocinema through the mid-way of the innings.

 “Rajasthan Royals do this often. Send Ashwin ahead of the proper batsmen. I’m against it. You have a left-arm spinner bowling when you send Ashwin in. It could’ve been a different scenario,”  ChrisGayle said on JioCinema.

Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle Credits: Twitter

Earlier, during their match against Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals opened with Ravichandran Ashwin alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal as their regular opener Jos Buttler was held back in batting after having picked a finger injury and move didn’t work as he was dismissed without scoring a run in the match.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the player of the match for his all-round performance with bat and ball as he scored 30 runs off 22 balls and picked up two crucial wickets for his side in the middle order.

Ravichandran Ashwin Is Key With Left And Right-Handed Batter At The Top – Chris Gayle

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Chris Gayle suggested bringing in Ravichandran Ashwin as early as possible in the 2nd innings against the four-time champions, as they loaded with left-handers at the top of the order.

“I’ll bring him as early as possible (to bowl). Ashwin is key with a left and right-handed batter at the top,” Gayle suggested.

Coming into the match, batting first Rajasthan Royals lost their young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for just 10 runs of Tushar Deshpande’s bowling. Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal stitched a 2nd partnership of 78 runs before them losing Padikkal and their skipper Samson in quick succession. In the lower down the order, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer played a brilliant cameo taking their side to a decent total of 175 runs at the end of 20 overs.

Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals Credits: Twitter

With 176 runs to win, lost their star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad early in the innings, as Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane built a partnership of 68 runs for the 2nd wicket before Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed him in the front of the leg after which CSK batters fell in the pack as they Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, and Ambati Rayudu in quick succession.

With 54 runs to chase in the last three overs, Ravindra Jadeja and the skipper produced a blistering performance at the end of overs as they scored 33 runs in the 18th and 19th overs. With 21 runs to chase in the final over, MS Dhoni looked at his absolute best to score back-to-back sixes, to give them a chance, before Sandeep Sharma nailed the yorkers in the final three balls to hand their side a third victory from four games.