Rajasthan Royals (RR) chased down Delhi Capitals' (DC) target of 148 runs after a dreadful start as they were 42/5 at one stage in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 clash on April 15. DC skipper Rishabh Pant was criticized heavily for his decision of not bowling R Ashwin his full quota of 4 overs.
Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja feels that Rishabh Pant’s ‘defensive’ approach opened the door for Royals to make a comeback in the match.
IPL 2021: “Dew played a big role, we were 15-20 runs short”, says Rishabh Pant after DC’s loss to RR
“That over (13th, by Marcus Stoinis) kickstarted the chase for Rajasthan Royals. Before it, the scoreboard read 55-5. (Kagiso) Rabada, Avesh Khan, Chris Woakes, and R Ashwin, all main bowlers had bowled their 3 overs. When they were bowling, the game was different,” Jadeja told Cricbuzz.
“I believe you should have bowled your main bowlers some more. The game began to tilt in that over. The mistake was that he (Rishabh Pant) switched to defensive style from attacking and what was done and dusted, he let it revive again,” he added.
Ashwin, who was bowling really well as he just gave away only 14 runs in his 3 overs while defending a low score, not bowling his full overs was a ‘big error’ feels the 50-year-old.
“It's not weird (preserving one over of Ashwin) but it's a big error. You allowed them to come back into the game. There wasn't much spin but the batsmen weren't looking to dominate either,” the former India cricketer said.
After RR, the next assignment for Rishabh Pant and Co. is KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday (April 18) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
(With Cricbuzz inputs)
