Tactically retiring out is not a common phenomenon in cricket so when R Ashwin walked back to the dugout during Rajasthan Royals’ match against Lucknow Super Giants last evening, some heads turned.
Ashwin was declared “retired out” for technical reasons when he went back to let Riyan Parag in in the 19th over of Rajasthan’s innings.
Though retired out has been there in the laws of cricket for many years, it took Ravi Ashwin’s out of the box thinking to provide first such instance in IPL.
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) April 10, 2022
Teams will now use retired out as a strategical tool than care about batter’s reputation. #RRvsLSG #LSGvRR #IPL2022
Really brilliant move from Ashwin to retire out himself.
— Yash Lahoti (@YvLahoti) April 10, 2022
Challenging the status quo and implementing rules (which exist). What a guy! #IPL2022
The move created a bit of confusion, which made it seem like Ashwin was the one single-handedly taking the decision. However, it was later revealed that it was the team’s call, something that had been discussed prior to the innings.
The reason why teams opt for intentional retired hurt is that they want to give chances to as many batters as they can. Or maybe that one batter who they think can bring about a difference.
Seismic moment in T20 history: R Ashwin becomes the first batter retired out in the IPL
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) April 10, 2022
Had come in at No. 6 to add stability after a collapse. Runs off to give Rajasthan’s finisher Riyan Parag 10 balls at the death
The ICC law on this form of dismissal states:
A batsman retires out if he retires without the umpire’s permission and does not have the permission of the opposing captain to resume his innings. If such a return does not occur, the batman is marked as ‘retired out’ and this is considered a dismissal for the purposes of calculating a batting average.
This is an excerpt from an Aaron Finch interview in February. He talks about tactical retirement in T20s. Finch feels the retired out option, as a tactical ploy, may become a more regular feature of T20s in the near future. pic.twitter.com/qfvfV5rJ2w
— Ayan (@ayan_acharya13) April 10, 2022
Though many seem to think that this goes against the spirit of the game, which warrants hustle. You can’t quit. As Stephen Fleming puts it.
Nah, that’s part of the battle, isn’t it. Even if you are not hitting it well, that constant battle to come right. Some guys have started terribly and ended up with the best hundreds you can see. I like that battle…That’s the beauty of it, isn’t it? Not let someone get away with it just because they can tap out – ‘Not my day today, I am out’.
I am not a big supporter of the retired out becoming a tactical ploy in cricket. Its because its the easy way out. Its driven by a mentality which reduces the meaning of sports to just wins or losses. It devoids sports of its best quality – being a platform for the show of +
— Gaurav Nandan Tripathi (@Cric_Beyond_Ent) April 10, 2022
On the other hand, bowlers might avoid bowling attacking lines and lengths even as early as 7-14 phase and would push the batter to retire out which will make the game less exciting.
— Pavan Karunarathne (@pavan_118) April 10, 2022
Also, if tactical retired out will be used in future,#LSGvRR #RAshwin
The retired out option is a smart tactical ploy. I like it but it will be a brave call. Remember the Tewatia match when he couldn’t put bat to ball. You would have thought that was a worthy case for retired out!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 10, 2022
Opinions on the move are many, but the fact remains that it is well within the rules. For Rajasthan, the move hardly paid off, though. Riyan came in and scored 8 runs off 4 balls. This was far from ideal, given the fact that Ashwin, having scored 28 runs off 23 balls, could have very well managed to do that on his own. Guess it was about taking that chance.
Royals won the match by 3 runs in the end and Yuzvendra Chahal was declared Player of the Match.
