Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals (DC) coach has lamented the fact that despite bowling beautifully, Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t finish his quota of four overs in the side’s loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. This was the seventh match of IPL 2021.
Chasing 149, RR had lost half their side for 42 before the halfway mark. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was hammered for 47 off his four overs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in DC’s first game this season, bowled tight lines this time around and conceded only 14 runs from his 3 overs on Thursday but wasn’t called upon to bowl the 4th over.
Ricky Ponting Admits Ravichandran Ashwin Not Bowling His Full Quota A Mistake On Delhi Capitals’ Behalf
But the ace off-spinner couldn’t complete his quota of four overs as RR batsmen Chris Morris and David Miller led RR’s resurgence, with DC bowlers struggling towards the death.
Admitting Ravichandran Ashwin not completing his four overs was a mistake on the Rishabh Pant-led DC’s behalf, Ricky Ponting told the press: “Certainly, we will talk about this when we get together as a team. He (Ashwin) had bowled beautifully, bowling 3-0-14-0 and didn’t concede a boundary.”
“He didn’t have a good first game, and he really worked hard in the past few days and adjusted to get things right in this game. He bowled beautifully tonight, and it (not bowling his full quota) was a mistake on our behalf, something we will be talking about as a team later on,” said Ricky Ponting.
Ricky Ponting feels that spinner Ravichandran Ashwin not completing his four overs is a ‘mistake on their behalf’ despite just giving 14 runs in his three overs.
RR pacer MOM Jaydev Unadkat returned with figures of 3/15 in 4 overs which included wickets of openers Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, and Ajinkya Rahane. Rishabh Pant’s 51 helped Delhi reach 147/8.
Rajasthan was reduced to 42/5 but David Miller and Chris Morris led a fightback. The duo of David Miller (62 off 43) and Chris Morris (36* off 18) had enabled Rajasthan to revive the chase and clinch the game by three wickets with two balls remaining.
Ravichandran Ashwin Is India’s 3rd Highest Wicket Taker In T20s After Piyush Chawla And Amit Mishra
Ravichandran Ashwin had a great 2020-21 season for India in Test cricket. He was vital to India’s wins in Australia and later at home against England. Having lost his place in India’s limited-overs setup, the champion spinner is eyeing a return to India’s T20I side ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup. In February 2021, he made it clear that he’s realistically aiming to return to the T20I side.
With 249 T20 wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in the format after Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra. His economy rate of 6.94 in T20s is among the best in the world. Even in T20Is, his economy rate is below seven. For Delhi to win their maiden IPL this year, a lot will depend on Ravichandran Ashwin’s showing in the tournament.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 150/7 (David Miller 62, Chris Morris 36*; Avesh Khan 3/32) beat Delhi Capitals 147/8 (Rishabh Pant 51, Tom Curran 21; Jaydev Unadkat 3/15) by 3 wickets.