IPL 2019: Ravichandran Ashwin Fined For Slow Over-Rate Offence
Updated - 24 Apr 2019, 04:09 PM
Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin was fined for his team maintaining a slow over-rate during their five-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday (April 20). Since this was Ashwin, and his team’s, first such offence of the season, the off-spinner was docked INR 12 Lakh.
Kings XI Punjab were thoroughly outplayed by the hosts as they suffered their third loss in the last four games. Kings XI, however, are still in the top four with 5 wins and as many losses. The game, though, ended just seven minutes before midnight.
Put in to bat first, Kings XI scored 163 for 7. Chris Gayle top-scored for the side, scoring 69 but got little support from the other end. Kings XI squandered a good chance to put up a big total and paid the price with another loss. Delhi, in reply, chased down the total without breaking much sweat.
Shikhar Dhawan led the charge early on by scoring 56 before skipper Shreyas Iyer scored an unbeaten 58 to take the side home. Speaking at the end of the game, Ashwin rued the absence of spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who is sidelined with an injury.
“I thought it was just below par because of the dew. It was quite hard to grip the ball for the spinners. We lost too many wickets in the middle despite Gayle playing a brilliant knock. Someone like Mujeeb is a very important player for us. It happened last year as well, he got a soft tissue injury. It was quite disappointing from that angle,” he said.
“But having said we have enough talent to back him up but unfortunately we didn’t have enough runs on the board today. We were giving away one or two soft boundaries and we need to be tight there. If we had 12-13 in the last over, we would have fancied ourselves. Credit to Shreyas. He held his nerve and batted through,” added Ravichandran Ashwin.
Meanwhile, Ashwin became the fourth captain this season to be fined for slow over-rate offence. Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma, Rajasthan Royals’ recently-sacked captain Ajinkya Rahane, and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli are the other captains to suffer this fate.
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R Ashwin Ravichandran Ashwin
