IPL 2022 | Ravi Ashwin holds dew factor responsible for defeat against Mumbai

With the kind of form Rajasthan Royals have shown so far in IPL 2022, they were certainly expected to steamroll the bottom-sitters Mumbai Indians in yesterday’s (April 30) game. However, Mumbai showed a lot of character to pull off their first-ever victory of this season after suffering eight straight losses. 

The Royals posted an average total of 158 runs, which was chased successfully by the five-time champions, courtesy of an outstanding half-century from the ever-reliable Suryakumar Yadav and a fine 20-run cameo by Tim David. 

However, after facing an unforeseen loss, the experienced spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed that 158 could have proved to be a match-winning total on the slowish surface if not for dew. 

In the post-match press conference, Ashwin said that although they got the crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan in the powerplay, things went on to become only worse for the Royals’ bowlers because of the increasing amount of dew with each passing over.

“I think if dew hadn’t played a part, that score would’ve been enough, but there was heavy dew, so felt it was 10-15 runs short”, Ashwin said. “It was unfortunate today. I don’t know how this works, whether it’s the humidity factor, or the spray doesn’t work, but it was all over the place today. And it makes a massive difference; good deliveries tend to get overpitched and stuff like that for a spinner. Could’ve had 10-15 more, but these things happen in a 14-game IPL”, he further added. 

The decision of the Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson to go with Daryl Mitchell to bowl the 7th over backfired the Royals badly as the Kiwi all-rounder went for 20 runs, thereby supplying the much-required momentum to MI’s innings. 

“Last game too, Daryl Mitchell had bowled that 7th over. If we use the sixth bowler upfront, then we have options in the back end. That’s the thought process”, the veteran spinner said. 

“He had bowled well in the last game, but today, it didn’t work. It happens in the game, and that’s how T20 cricket is”, the 35-year-old concluded.