Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin slammed Rajasthan Royals after they suffered a crushing 77-run loss against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Saturday. Chasing a par score of 230 runs, RR was bowled out for 152 runs.
RR kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the run chase as they never got the impetus on their side. None of the home side batters were able to breach the 40-run mark.
Furthermore, the RR bowlers were not able to hit the right areas. Barring Ravindra Jadeja and Yash Raj Punja, all the RR bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than 11.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “GT definitely played well, but this match rests solely on RR. RR didn’t just play below average or bad; they played pathetic cricket. Jofra Archer bowled such a terrible first over. I am not sure who he was angry at or whether he was angry at himself for bowling such an abysmal over. Only the free hit ball, he didn’t bowl like one. The rest of the over was full of free hit balls.”
“They bowled almost six balls on the seventh stump on the leg side just inside the powerplay. It was unfathomable how a team could bowl so much on the legs. RR were never in the game to decide which phase they lost it in. Are GT a team capable of scoring 230? Yet, if you have given them that score, you should ask yourself if you have played well.”
Ashwin questioned Rajasthan Royals for playing Dasun Shanaka at number eight in the batting order. The Sri Lankan was dismissed after scoring 16 runs off 11 balls.
“They are playing Dasun Shanaka as one of their foreign players. When you can have only 4 foreign players in a team, it’s as important as an elephant or a horse on a chessboard. You are choosing Shanaka as one of them and playing him at No.8. Why? Play him at No.11 only then (sarcasm). Nobody knows why Hetmyer goes out and comes in,” said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).
The former off-spinner further questioned RR for dropping Ravi Bishnoi, who has scalped 11 wickets in nine matches in the ongoing season.
“They are also making so many changes for no reason. They went hard at Ravi Bishnoi and picked him. He was leading the Purple Cap at one stage and is a former No. 1-ranked T20I bowler. Though he didn’t bowl well in a couple of matches, I would suggest you rather lose playing him. If you do such things, how will the confidence of a team not be affected?”
Rajasthan Royals will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on Sunday.
