Ravichandran Ashwin's decision to walk back to the pavilion without getting dismissed in the match vs the Lucknow Super Giants raised a lot of questions. Why did he walk away? Was he injured? The commentators later informed that the cricketer decided to walk away as he decided to 'retire out' himself during the innings.
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Ashwin was batting at 28 off 23 as Rajasthan Royals were making a dash to end the innings on a high vs Lucknow. His 121.73 strike rate was good enough to rescue the team after being left reeling at 67/4 but was it good enough to complete the innings? Many social media users called the move against the spirit of the game but others understood why Ashwin decided to sacrifice his wicket for his team which was in need of quick runs.
Rajasthan Royals' director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara was in complete agreement with Ashwin's bold move. He said, "It was the right time to do that. (Ravichandran) Ashwin himself was asking from the field as well and we had discussed it just before that as to what we would do. I think as the coach, I got one call wrong in not sending Riyan Parag ahead of Rassie Van Der Dussen and holding Rassie a little bit back. We couldn't get the full benefit of Riyan, but I thought the way Ashwin handled that situation, walking in under pressure the way he batted, supported the team and then finally sacrificed himself in terms of being retired out, was magnificent".
While Ashwin's partner Shimron Hetmeyer had no clue about the move, the law states that it is possible. According to the law, "A batter retires out if he retires without the umpire's permission and does not have the permission of the opposing captain to resume his innings. If such a return does not occur, the batter is marked as 'retired out' and this is considered a dismissal for the purposes of calculating a batting average."
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This was the 4th such occasion in the T20s when a batter has been 'retired out' but the first in the Indian Premier League's history. A revolutionary moment in IPL history as Ashwin achieved another first for himself after he was involved in running out his now teammate Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end a few years ago.
Given the margin of victory for Rajasthan was just 3 runs, Ashwin's decision might have won the Royals the match against Lucknow. A smart move that helped the Men in Pink go home with 2 invaluable points.