The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) has not been short of action this year. After record 18 runs scored off the final delivery of an innings, Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s return to the league led to something even more bizarre on Wednesday night.
Just days after being dropped for the World Test Championship (Final) against Australia in London, Ashwin flew straight into a TNPL match for Dindigul Dragons against Ba11sy Trichy in Coimbatore. After Trichy batter R. Rajkumar had successfully overturned an on-field caught-behind decision from umpire K. Srinivasan in the 13th over, Ashwin signalled for another DRS review of the same decision.
Dindigul skipper Ashwin was unhappy with the original decision being overturned and had a discussion with both on-field umpires, Srinivasan and MV Saidharshan Kumar, over it. S. Nishaanth, the TV umpire, ruled it ‘not out’ once again.
Ashwin had turned a carrom ball away from the right-hand batter Rajkumar, with wicketkeeper B Indrajith cleanly collecting the ball behind the stumps. After multiple replays, Nishaanth deemed that the bat had hit the ground, not the ball. The ‘UltraEdge’ detected a big spike when the bat hit the turf and then the TV umpire ‘saw a gap between bat and ball’.
WATCH R. Ashwin’s double DRS review in TNPL 2023 match HERE…
Uno Reverse card in real life! Ashwin reviews a review _
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.#TNPLonFanCode pic.twitter.com/CkC8FOxKd9— FanCode (@FanCode) June 14, 2023
After Ashwin asked for the second review, the TV umpire once again examined the ‘UltraEdge’ visuals and said that the ‘spike was due to the bat hitting the ground’ and there was ‘a gap between bat and ball’. Ashwin, though, went on to claim 2/26 in 4 overs with the ball picking up the wickets of Trichy skipper Ganga Sridhar Raju for 48 off 41 balls and Daryl Ferrario for 5.
Ashwin’s teammate and Kolkata Knight Riders off-spinner Varun Chakravarthy also picked up 3/21 as Trichy were bundled out for 120 in spite of Rajkumar’s 39 off 22 balls with 4 sixes. In reply, Ashwin’s Dindigul Dragons overhauled the target with more than 5 overs to spare and for the loss of just 4 wickets. Shivam Singh top-scored for the Dragons with 46 off 30 balls with three sixes and 6 fours.
“Looking at the big screen, I felt (it was out),” Ashwin said at the post-match presentation. “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 explains why he went with the Double Review System
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.#TNPLonFanCode #TNPL2023 pic.twitter.com/zdvAfBPDPS— FanCode (@FanCode) June 14, 2023
Another Dindigul player, Adithya Ganesh, backed his captain’s decision to go for a second review off the same ball. “It was a very close call, right? It happens,” Ganesh said at the post-match press conference. “I felt it was a close call from the inside. Again with Ash anna (brother), he was right to take the DRS as well.”
“I’m feeling jetlagged. I did some stretching. Initially while starting the game, the first ten overs were okay. As the game progressed, the body became stiff. The jetlag is there, but I wanted to play with the boys,” Ashwin added.
