Known for his street-smart exploits in the shortest format of the game, veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin made headlines with his outrageous decision-making during the action-packed edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) on Wednesday. Ashwin, who was deemed surplus to requirement in the final of the ICC World Test Championship against Austalia, returned to competitive cricket by captaining Dindigul Dragons in Tamil Nadu's elite league.
Leading the Dindigul Dragons in the low-scoring encounter, Ashwin was visibly upset after Ba11sy Trichy's R Rajkumar managed to overturn umpire K Srinivasan's on-field decision during the 13th over. The Trichy batter was given out caught-behind by umpire Srinivasan. However, the third umpire overruled Srinivasan's on-field decision since replays suggested that the bat touched the turf before passing the ball.
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The third umpire was convinced that there was a clear spike on UltraEdge prior to the ball hitting the willow. Thus, the Ba11sy Trichy star was given not out. Moments after Rajkumar reversed the decision, Ashwin decided to review the DRS verdict on the same delivery. The on-field umpires went through the same process before Rajkumar was ruled not out for the second time by the TV umpire. The bizarre moment soon became the talk of the town on the internet.
Talking about the match, Ashwin's Dragons defeated Ba11sy Trichy by 6 wickets in match No.4 of the TNPL at Coimbatore. Ganga Sridhar Raju played a captain's knock to lift his side to a modest total of 120 in the 20-over game. In reply, Ashwin and Co. chased down the target in 14.5 overs to register a comfortable win. Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was named the Player of the Match.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the match, Ashwin's Dragons defeated Ba11sy Trichy by 6 wickets in match No.4 of the TNPL at Coimbatore. Ganga Sridhar Raju played a captain's knock to lift his side to a modest total of 120 in the 20-over game. In reply, Ashwin and Co. chased down the target in 14.5 overs to register a comfortable win. Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was named the Player of the Match.
{{/usCountry}}Why Ashwin reviewed a review
After the match, the veteran Indian all-rounder opened up about the baffling incident in TNPL 2023. "Looking at the big screen, I felt [it was out]. DRS is a new rule in this competition. The spike [on UltraEdge] generally comes ahead of the bat, even if there is an edge. And to overturn the on field call, there has to be conclusive evidence. That they overturned it, I was slightly not happy. So, I reviewed it, hoping they [umpires] might look at it from a different angle," Ashwin said at the post-match presentation.