The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that the team management is not using him at no. 3 as a pinch hitter or in that sort of role. It was conveyed to him before the start of the season itself that there might be a few games where he would be used as a batsman up the order. And he doesn’t go out there with a license to slog or anything like that, he just plays according to the situation.
The Rajasthan Royals playing XI often gets structured in a way where they find themselves a batsman short because they go into the games with five specialist bowlers, out of which Ashwin is the one as well, but he is the one who can bat. The other four Rajasthan bowlers can’t really bat. Rajasthan looks to lengthen their batting order a little bit by using Ashwin at no. 3 whenever an early wicket falls.
I opened in practice games before the season started: Ravichandran Ashwin
According to Ravichandran Ashwin, Rajashthan Royals had played a few practice games ahead of the ongoing IPL season and he was asked to open the batting in those games. So, the Rajasthan management had kept him ready and in a frame of mind where batting in the top 3 didn’t come as any sort of surprise to him.
Ravichandran Ashwin scored his first-ever IPL half-century when he crossed the mark of 50 off just 37 balls, batting at no. 3 for Rajasthan Royals in the game against Delhi Capitals yesterday. However, despite Ashwin’s effort, Rajasthan fell probably 10 or 15 runs below par on a slightly tricky surface.
Till the time Ashwin was there at the crease, it seemed as if Rajasthan would be able to get to 170, but eventually, they couldn’t get the kind of finish from their power hitters that they were expecting at the end and finished with only 160, which proved to be insufficient.
