Virender Sehwag, former India batter feels that Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowler Ravichandran Ashwin should have stuck with his stock off-spin delivery on Sunday. The spinner was erratic in his spell in the IPL 2022 final, often dishing out loose deliveries, which were pounced upon by the Gujarat Titans (GT) batters.
Defending a paltry 131 at Ahmedabad, Rajasthan’s bowlers had to be at their best. The Rajasthan Royals managed a below-par score of 130-9 after winning the toss and opting to bat first. Hardik Pandya’s side then chased down the target with seven wickets and almost two overs to spare.
Virender Sehwag: Ravichandran Ashwin Should Have Stuck With His Off-Spin Balls Instead Of Bowling Carrom Balls
While pacers Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna performed their roles to perfection in the powerplay, Ravichandran Ashwin let the side down in the middle overs. He conceded 32 runs off his three overs and became only the second player to lose an IPL final with three different franchises.
Critical of Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling display in the final at Ahmedabad, Virender Sehwag said: “Ashwin should have stuck with his off-spin deliveries, because it was troubling the batters.
“Instead, he bowled his carrom balls. There was even a rough patch formed by the end, that could have troubled Gill. He could have tried to dismiss Pandya as well like that. But, his mindset is different, tries for wickets with his variations.”
GT was in a spot of bother at the end of the powerplay at 31-2. With the contest precariously placed, the champions got out of trouble, courtesy of a stable partnership between Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya for the third wicket. Shubman Gill’s catch was dropped by Yuzvendra Chahal when the batter hadn’t scored which turned out to be a crucial moment in the game.
Former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel said during the same interaction: “It would have been better had RR taken one more wicket in the powerplay, they had created the pressure. The complexion of the game would have been different had Gill’s catch been taken. But it was sort of given that if GT play for 18-19 overs, they would chase this down, it was not a big target.”
The opening batter of Gujarat, Shubman Gill was dropped twice during the run chase. He made the most of it by anchoring the innings and remaining unbeaten on 45 runs in the seven-wicket victory.
Virender Sehwag Felt Rajasthan Royals Could Have Included Pacer Kuldeep Sen In Place Of All Rounder Riyan Parag
Making it to the finals after 14 years of hiatus, inaugural IPL 2008 winners Rajasthan Royals put up a forgettable performance to finish second-best in the all-important contest. The inaugural champions were outplayed across all departments after putting only 130 runs on the board to defend.
Opining that RR could have included a pacer in their playing XI in place of all-rounder Riyan Parag, Virender Sehwag said: “RR knew how hard it is to play pacers on this surface, but they still went with both their spinners instead of a fourth fast bowling option.
“They will also question themselves that should they have batted first after winning the toss after chasing so well in Qualifier 2. They could have played a pacer instead of Riyan Parag, because even Ashwin can bat that much.”
Riyan Parag endured a rather poor tournament with the bat after hardly being used with the ball. The youngster was, however, a key element for Rajasthan in terms of fielding in the deep over the course of the tournament. The Sanju Samson-led side had the option of playing pacer Kuldeep Sen but chose to stick with the same combination.
Jos Buttler, who won the IPL 2022 Orange Cap, was dismissed for 39 in the final. None of the other RR batters could even cross the 25-run mark, with Butler’s fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 22 being the second-highest score.
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 133/3 (Shubman Gill 45*, Hardik Pandya 34; Trent Boult 1-14) beat Rajasthan Royals 130/9 (Jos Buttler 39, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Hardik Pandya 3-17) by 7 wickets.