Rajasthan Royals (RR) spinner, R Ashwin on Sunday became the first player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history to be tactically retired out, a decision which was made during their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Ashwin came out to bat at No.6 for the Royals and he amassed 28 off 23 before walking off the field and retiring out after facing just two balls in the 19th over. This allowed Rajasthan to send Riyan Parag, who scored 8 off 4 and ably supported Shimron Hetmyer at the other end, whose death-over blitzkrieg helped Rajasthan finish with 165.

Explaining the decision after the match, Rajasthan Royals skipper, Sanju Samson revealed that it was a team decision. He said, “It’s about being Rajasthan Royals (Ashwin’s retired-out). We keep trying different things. Have been talking about it before the season. We thought that if some situation occurs, we can use it. Was a team decision.”

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When Hetmyer was asked about Ashwin’s ‘dismissal’, he revealed he had no involvement in the situation. After the first innings ended, he said, “I had no idea about it. He (R Ashwin) was also a bit tired. It was a good decision, as the kid (Parag) hit a six for us.”

This was, however, not the first-ever tactical retired out in T20 cricket. In 2019, during the South Asian Games, Bhutan batsman Sonam Togbay had pulled off the same at the end of the 19th over in the match against the Maldives. On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara, RR’s director of cricket, revealed that it was while the team had discussed it before it was entirely Ashwin’s plan to sacrifice his own wicket.

Ashwin, retired out, but played his part. 👏🙏 pic.twitter.com/p1hD9xAVL7

— Harish Jangid (@HarishJ56732474) April 10, 2022

Kuma Sangakkara explained, “It was the right time to do that. Ashwin himself was asking from the field as well and we had discussed just before that what we would do. As the coach, I got one call wrong not sending Riyan Parag ahead of Rassie van der Dussen and holding Rassie back so we couldn’t get the full benefit of Riyan, but how Ashwin handled that situation, walking in under pressure, he batted, supported the team.”

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He further added, “Then finally sacrificed himself in terms of retiring himself out and then backed it up with a magnificent bowling effort. And of course Boult. Yuzi Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, and Kuldeep Sen all of these bowlers were outstanding under pressure with the dew.”