IPL 2022: In Terms Of Ravichandran Ashwin And Jos Buttler, I Believe That Rivalry Was Electric - RR’s Kumar Sangakkara

Rajasthan Royals (RR) director of cricket operations Kumar Sangakkara opined on Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler playing together in one unit, given their history in the Indian Premier League when the IPL 2022 begins from March 26 onwards.

The 15^th edition of the IPL will be played entirely in Maharashtra with the 70 league stage matches to be played in Mumbai and Pune across four venues- Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, DY Patil Stadium, and MCA Stadium. The venue for the four playoff matches will be decided later.

There will be 12 doubleheaders in the IPL 2022 tournament including two matches on the second day of the tournament on March 27.

Sangakkara spoke heavily on the equation shared by Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler, especially after the ‘Mankad’ incident from IPL 2019, when Ashwin, then Punjab Kings captain, ran out Buttler, in a match at Jaipur, after warning him for wandering outside the crease before he bowled a bowl at the non-striker’s end. With Buttler continuing to try and take advantage, Ashwin ran him out, leading to a huge controversy.

Jos Buttler And Ravichandran Ashwin Are Both Highly Intelligent And Highly Committed Individuals With Great Values: Kumar Sangakkara

Ashwin was bought by RR for INR 5 crores, while Buttler was retained ahead of IPL 2022 auction along with captain Sanju Samson and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. The franchise’s Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara opened up on the rivalry between the two on a Clubhouse conversation on ‘Red Bull Cricket’.

“In terms of Ashwin and Butter, I believe that rivalry was electric. It was a part of that high-performance atmosphere at the stage that they play on. And they managed to deal with it in their own ways. I could’ve seen the reasons behind the MCC rule changes, it could’ve also been because of those kinds of moments that change perceptions.

Jos and Ashwin are both highly intelligent and highly committed individuals with great values. To be able to talk about it in that way and come to terms with it is really important,” Sangakkara said.

Further talking about the “ego” aspect, Sangakkara said that there’s a difference between a “destructive” ego and the ego that allows one to be “confident.”

“We talked about egos. Everyone has egos, I do, you do. All the players do. Different things feed that ego; perceptions of others, your own perceptions about yourself, but the real thing is that there’s a difference between an ego that is destructive and an ego that allows you to be confident, and to be able to relate with the players in a positive way. That’s the kind of thing that we need to create,” Sangakkara said.

RR will face off against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first match of the IPL 2022 on March 29 in Pune.

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