R Ashwin's 'retired out'- a tactical move by Rajasthan Royals?
In the 20th match of the tournament, in a clash of Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals Lucknow went into a challenging phase, where their batters struggled to fetch runs.
Ashiwn and tacticsIt was then that Ravichandran Ashwin got promoted to bat at number 6 in the tenth over. The move didn't go well with the fans as they were expecting a much more suitable player Riyan Parag on the spot.
Ashwin, the man implementing all the untouched ICC rules
However, Rajasthan Royals, when in need, the experienced spinner did his best to stitch a valuable 68-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer. The game took a turn when Ashwin walked off after playing two balls of the 19th over when the team was at 135/4. The move grabbed eyeballs as he retired out himself after scoring 28 runs off 23 balls to give Riyan Parag a suitable entry. This tactical move invited a lot of talks, but nobody knows if he owned the decision or this step came strategically from the dugout. Riyan Parag got out for eight runs, but this move surpassed their projected score of 152, and they landed up giving a target of 166 to Lucknow Super Giants.
"Ashwin retired out is fascinating T20 tactics. T20 is causing us to rethink the way we conceive the game of the 21st century," former West Indies bowler Ian Bishop tweeted.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted that he "loved it", while former Australian woman cricketer and commentator Lisa Sthalekar said the move "makes a lot of sense".
Ravichandran Ashwin has always been upfront in exploring the various rules of cricket to the full extent. He became the first player in IPL history to get 'retired out'. In the previous season, the player also grabbed attention for running out the non-striker for backing too far, termed as 'Mankading'.
What is 'retired out'?
As per ICC's rules, a batter can get himself retired out in T20 cricket, but he will have to inform the umpire about the same. "A batter may retire at any time during his/her innings when the ball is dead. The umpires, before allowing play to proceed, shall be informed of the reason for a batter retiring," states ICC's 25.4.1 law.
The all-rounder brought this tactical move to IPL, and we might get to see other teams and players implementing the same in upcoming matches as well.