3 min readApr 20, 2026 12:27 PM IST
After Rajasthan Royals lost by four wickets to Kolkata Knight Riders, Ravichandran Ashwin was critical of Royals captain Riyan Parag’s decisions in the second innings. In particular, Ashwin was stunned by Parag not handing the ball to Ravindra Jadeja in crunch situations at the death, despite the
ace all-rounder conceding just eight runs in his three overs.
Parag had made some bold choices with the ball, like handing himself an over and then tossing the ball to Brijesh Sharma in the 18th and 20 overs for the first time in the IPL.
“If you can give the 18th and 20th over to Brijesh Sharma for the first time in an IPL, then of course you can give the ball to Ravindra Jadeja!” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel Ash ki Baat.
“What should I say about Riyan Parag’s decisions? The game was on the line, Ravindra Jadeja managed to get a false shot off Rinku Singh’s bat. If Nandre Burger had held on to that chance, the game was over right then! My question is, when you have two left-handers batting, Rinku and Anukul Roy, I want to understand the mindset. I’m not saying that Riyan Parag or Ayush Badoni are not good bowlers. You have a world-class left-arm spinner. Sure, numbers and data can tell you something, but he has conceded only eight runs in three overs and taken two wickets.
“When Rinku Singh tried to hit, he was so close to getting out, but you thought, ‘I am an off-spinner; I can put pressure on these two left-handers, but Jaddu won’t be able to.’ Ravi Bishnoi can bowl to them, but you felt Jaddu won’t be able to? It is possible that Jaddu bowls and the batter hits two sixes, but by not bowling him, you are not showing trust in your bowling unit in the long term,” Ashwin said in the video.
“If a left-arm spinner knows that he will not bowl against a left-hander, he will stop trying!”
In contrast, Ashwin praised Ishan Kishan’s calls as a captain in SRH’s previous game, particularly the call to give youngster Praful Hinge the ball in the final over of the game versus Chennai Super Kings. After a dream debut where he picked up three wickets in his first over against Rajasthan Royals, Hinge had a bad start to his second game, conceding 54 runs in his three overs. CSK needed 18 runs to win off the final over, and at that stage, Kishan handed the ball to Hinge.
