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Rajasthan Royals (RR) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has stated that he stays padded up in every match for the franchise because he doesn’t know when he might have to go into bat.
The 36-year-old added that he is just happy to get any opportunity to display his skills with the willow because it doesn’t happen a lot in the T20 format.
Ashwin was the Player of the Match for his impressive all-round effort against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, April 12.
Sent into bat at No. 5, the right-hander scored 30 off 22 balls, striking one four and two sixes. The off-spinner, however, was surprised by suggestions that he has a say in his batting promotion. Taken aback, he replied, while speaking at a press conference:
“Sir, I don’t understand, how can I walk into bat on my own suggestion? If I could do that… I mean I am surprised people do tend up believing that I pad up and I run in. It never works like that. I don’t discuss. To be fair, every single match that we play, I am padded up, either as a showpiece or a batsman. I am just padded up, I am ready to go in anytime.”
Explaining why it is easier for him to play the role of a floater instead of a regular batter, the seasoned cricketer said:
“If you put a batter in that position and ask them to go at any order, they might not willingly do it for any position. But for someone like me who doesn’t bat as much throughout the season, I am glad that I am getting an opportunity at least to pad up.”
After RR lost Devdutt Padikkal (38 off 26) and skipper Sanju Samson (0) in one over to Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin and Jos Buttler (52 off 36) steadied the innings, adding 47 runs for the fourth wicket.
“I’m not giving it too much thought” - Ashwin on enjoying his bowling
Apart from his impressive batting effort, Ashwin also made an impact with the ball, claiming 2/25 from his four overs. The off-spinner trapped Ajinkya Rahane (31) and Shivam Dube (eight) lbw to hurt CSK’s progress.
Reflecting on his bowling, Ashwin said that he is just looking to keep things simple. He commented:
“I’m just enjoying the way I’m bowling and I’m not giving it too much thought. For someone like me who bowls in different phases of the game I have to be prepared to bowl different lengths, different speeds and different trajectories. So I think what I’ve realised is even Sanjay (Manjrekar) asked me ‘are you keeping it a lot more simple?’
“You keep it simple only when you attain a certain amount of mastery over things I feel. “Ashwin added, “I think I probably gauge things and deliver what I think is the best for that situation. So for me at the moment, I’m just really enjoying my bowling and I’m looking at deceiving the batsman a lot more in the flight. That’s because of where I find myself with bowling,”
Apart from Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal also claimed 2/27 as Rajasthan restricted Chennai to 172/6, defending a total of 175.
