In an incident that made everyone sad, Delhi Capitals (DC) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin left the field in pain after hurting his left shoulder while diving to try and save the ball on the last delivery of his very first over of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 this Sunday (September 21)
Ashwin had dismissed Kings XI Punjab's (KXIP) key batsmen, Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran, in the first five balls of his over and looked in peak form. However, the untimely injury saw him immediately leave the field with the physio and he didn't bowl for the rest of the innings.
WATCH- On-field umpire mistakenly calls short-run robbing KXIP of a win
From the dressing room, the 34-year-old was seen wearing a sling, which raised speculations of a dislocated shoulder and also doubts over his participation in the rest of the tournament.
However, after the match, where the Capitals pulled off a dramatic super-over win despite posting only 157/8 in the first half, skipper Shreyas Iyer gave a positive update on Ashwin.
Iyer said although a final decision on the matter lies with the team physio, the spinner has told him he'll be ready to play his team's next match on Friday (September 25) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
"It's only up to the physio right now. When I spoke to him at the end of the game, he was like 'I will be ready for the next game. But at the end of the day, it's the physio's decision. He is a strong-minded guy, we hope he is available for the next game," said Iyer at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Iyer also heaped praise on Marcus Stoinis and Kagiso Rabada, who made important contributions in their team's once unlikely victory.
Stoinis took DC out of trouble waters and gave them a fighting total to defend via a brilliant 21-ball 53, before Rabada picked up two wickets and conceded just 28 runs in his spell in the second half.
Stoinis also ensured KXIP can't make the 13 runs required in the final over despite their opener Mayank Agarwal looking in supreme touch and then Rabada allowed DC to post only 2 runs in the super over by dismissing KL Rahul and Pooran within the first three balls.
"It was difficult to see the game turning in different directions. We are used to this. Even last season we faced these. KG (Rabada) is the winning performer, and the way Stoinis batted was game-changing," said Iyer
(Inputs from India Today)
