Some of the decisions in this year’s IPL have left me flummoxed: Ravichandran Ashwin

Rajasthan Royals (RR) veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin relished a terrific time upon his return to the MA Chidambaram Stadium against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as he got two wickets and scored 30 runs in his team’s win. Following the conclusion of the match, Ashwin gave an interesting statement as he stated that he is ‘flummoxed’ with some of the umpiring decisions in the ongoing IPL 2023 season.

As the venue in Chennai receives a considerable amount of dew during games, the on-field umpires took the decision to change the ball during the run chase. The decision seemed to have worked the Royals’ way, as the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, and Yuzvendra Chahal claimed five wickets between themselves to dent CSK’s chase with the help of the changed ball. 

In the post-match conference, Ashwin highlighted this point and stated that part of the success was the decision to change the ball due to the dew factor. However, he also stated that he was surprised in a ‘good or bad’ way due to the decision made by the umpires on their own and added that there should be consistency going forward. 

“I’m quite surprised the umpires changed the ball for dew on their own. It’s never happened before and I’m quite surprised. Some of the decisions in this year’s IPL on the field have left me a little flummoxed to be honest. I mean, it’s just the middle — left me flummoxed in a good or a bad way. It’s because I think what you need is a little bit of balance,” Ashwin said in the post-match presser.

“As a bowling team, we are not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpire’s accord. I did ask the umpire and he said we can change it. So, I just hope every time there is dew they can change it every single time going forward in this IPL that sort of, you can do whatever you want, but you just need to be in a standard going forward,” added Ashwin.

Rajasthan won the thrilling affair as pacer Sandeep Sharma displayed his class on the final ball to restrict MS Dhoni from scoring big. Royals headed back home with two crucial points and will play Gujarat Titans in their next outing on Sunday, April 16.