It was a nail-biting thriller between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2022 Indian Premier League earlier this week, where the Royals eventually prevailed to secure a narrow 7-run victory. The contest had everything – a magnificent century from Jos Buttler, a first hat-trick of the season from Yuzvendra Chahal, 200+ scores from both sides and a brilliant counter-attacking knock from KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer (85 off 51 balls), which kept the Knight Riders alive in a high-scoring run-chase. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
After being invited to bat, the Royals posted a mammoth score of 217/5 in 20 overs, thanks to Buttler's 103. In the run-chase, Chahal picked a hat-trick as he ended with a five-wicket haul (5/40), as KKR were left 7 runs short of RR's total.
Royals' off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has now shared a hilarious incident from the game that took place during the closing overs of the Royals' batting innings.
“Everybody was laughing while we were batting. Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) was laughing, and so were others. Except for a group, say a squad of four or five members was totally serious. And those were me, Saini, Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, & Boult because we were going to bat next right? Saini did not play yesterday (in the game against KKR). Also, McCoy seems to be a silent type. And we were watching the match and then something happened like how it happens in Tamil cinema," Ashwin began, as he narrated the incident on his YouTube channel.
"Saini casually started like, "Bhaiya... what do you think are the safe total runs that should be on the board?" I was looking at the total & replied back to him that they are playing well... So 230 runs should be safe for us. And Prasidh Krishna was like, "do you really think 230 is enough?"
{{/usCountry}}"Saini casually started like, "Bhaiya... what do you think are the safe total runs that should be on the board?" I was looking at the total & replied back to him that they are playing well... So 230 runs should be safe for us. And Prasidh Krishna was like, "do you really think 230 is enough?"
{{/usCountry}}“He (Prasidh) will speak both in Tamil and Kannada at times and I was like, dude 230 is really enough. Suddenly Saini seemed to be very silent like in a graveyard. He kept watching the match but it looked like he was not having any emotions on his face. And I said to him, you asked me a question and now, you are quiet. He said, “Bhaiya, I was having a deep contemplation and I think 300 runs should really be enough".
“He made us all burst into laughter even though it was a very tense situation. It was really good. After the match, we were going back to our dressing room. Kuldeep Sen was very happy. Saini came to me and said, this is why I was saying to you that 300 would have been the safest total. I was having a conversation with the Team management, Rajamani and all said that we were short of 10-15 runs. And Saini was like, Bhaiya, I already told you right. We were actually short of 80 runs,” Ashwin said.