Jos Buttler’s unbeaten half-century in the first innings was enough to help the Royals just salvage a win despite a late MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja onslaught.
There was a ball change in the second inning of the match. But the decision was made by umpires Virender Sharma and Vinod Seshan to change the ball in the 12th over of the CSK run chase.
Though the officials are within the laws of the game to do so, Ashwin acknowledged he was frustrated by the move after the Royals did not ask for it to be swapped.
“I’m quite surprised the umpires changed the ball for dew on their own,” Ashwin said after the Royals’ victory. “It’s never happened before and I’m quite surprised.
“Some of the decisions in this year’s IPL on the field have left me a little flummoxed, to be honest. It left me flummoxed in a good or bad way because what you need is a little bit of balance.
We’re going as a bowling team and we’re not asking for the ball to be changed. But the ball was changed on the umpire’s accord. I did ask the umpire, but he said we can change it,” the RR bowler, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, added.
Ashwin also asserts that he hopes the ball will be changed every time there is dew and expects some kind of consistency from the umpires.
Ashwin is not the first player to criticise the decision-making process by umpires, with Punjab Kings’ Sam Curran voicing his displeasure over ball changes.
Rajasthan Royals, after their thrilling win, have propelled themselves to the summit of the IPL 2023 table. Royals will play Gujarat Titans in their next game. CSK, who sit 5th in the table, will travel around 400 km west to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
