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Journalism of Courage
On Sunday, the match between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Kings took an interesting turn when R Ashwin used a rarely availed option of “retiring out” in the middle of the 19th over.
This allowed Ashwin to leave the field and his spot was taken by Riyan Parag who got Rajasthan Royals the much-needed winning runs that helped them secure a victory over Lucknow Super Kings by three runs.
Ashwin has become the first player in the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 14-year history to “retire out”. Before Ashwin, only three other cricketers, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, Bhutan’s Sonam Tobgay, and Bangladesh’s Sunzamul Islam, had opted for “retiring out”.
Ashwin’s decision impressed many cricket lovers who were not aware of this rule. Soon, Twitter was flooded with memes and jokes praising Ashwin.
According to rules laid by the International Cricket Council (ICC), a batsman can choose to retire anytime during their innings when the “ball is dead” after informing the umpires. “Dead ball” is a technical term that loosely means a time during the match when both teams are not playing.
https://twitter.com/harsh27402571/status/1513395725987504129
https://twitter.com/P_Raghu_/status/1513234289374404609
After the match, Rajasthan Royal’s coach Kumara Sangakkara told the media that the decision was discussed amongst the team members before. Sangakkara also praised Ashwin’s performance and presence of mind. “I thought the way Ashwin handled that situation, walking in under pressure, the way he batted to support the team, and then finally sacrificed himself in terms of being retired out, was just magnificent,” he said.
