Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma and MS Dhoni (Photo Source : Twitter)
Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed his ‘risky’ advice to Sandeep Sharma before bowling to MS Dhoni during the first fixture between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni is undoubtedly one of the best finishers in the game even today, and the CSK captain hammered 32 runs off 17 balls against RR. However, he failed to get CSK over the line courtesy of brilliant bowling by Sandeep Sharma in the penultimate over of the match. Consequently, RR won the match by three runs.
CSK needed 20 runs to win in the final over of the match, and RR skipper Sanju Samson turned to Sandeep against MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. The former India captain smashed two sixes against Sandeep, one over the deep fine leg and the other through the deep midwicket region. After that, Ashwin intervened to assist his compatriot, advising Sandeep to bowl the ‘riskiest’ delivery that Dhoni would not have expected at that stage of the match.
In a video that surfaced over social media, Ashwin can be seen explaining how he advised Sandeep to trick Dhoni to help RR to seal the fate of the match.
“Let me give you an example. Sandeep Sharma bowled that last over to Dhoni and he smashed him for two sixes, when you are defending 20 runs and when a guy like Dhoni has smashed you for 2 sixes, the odds of you coming out on top of that battle from there are literally none,” Ashwin stated during the video.
“‘What’s the highest risk ball at this point’, I asked. Sandeep replied, “Slower length ball,” the legendary off-spinner continued.
“I said, ‘You try bowling that to him now’. At the end of the day, at that point in time, whatever is the most riskiest ball the batsman won’t be expecting that. Because the batsman knows that the bowler is under immense pressure. So the batter won’t expect that ball from the bowler,” Ashwin further added.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s ‘probability’ theory paid off As RR completed a double win over CSK in IPL 2023
Thereafter, the ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin further explained the ‘probability’ side of his understanding of the game. Even though Ashwin admitted that one does not adhere to stats and probable chances of taking a wicket but knowing that aspect always helps one as a bowler.
As a result, his risky calculation paid off as Rajasthan Royals ended up getting the better of Chennai Super Kings twice as they won the match by 32 runs at the fortress in what was the return fixture of the IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.