Rajasthan Royals Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara was criticised by the cricketing audience for his comments on Ravichandran Ashwin post the IPL 2022 final.
The Gujarat Titans made history on Sunday, becoming only the second team to win an IPL tournament in their first year of participation – a feat achieved previously only by their opponents in the final, Rajasthan Royals – in the inaugural edition in 2008. GT gunned down the 131-run target with seven wickets and 11 balls to spare to register a comprehensive win, inspired by their captain Hardik Pandya’s all-round show, who returned 3/17 with the ball, before backing it with a crucial 30-ball 34.
Rajasthan Royals might’ve failed to throw up a major challenge in the final, but they stood out as a fine all-round unit and an unstoppable force for a major part of the tournament. Their success largely resolved around Jos Buttler’s enviable run with the bat, and a potent bowling force, led by spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, the former finishing with 27 wickets to bag the purple cap.
Post the final, the team Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara stated that Ashiwn “had a lot of thinking”, in terms of his approach to bowling.
“Ash (Ashwin), he’s done a great job for us,” Sangakkara remarked in the post-match presser. “Even for Ash, being a legend in terms of what he has achieved on the cricketing pitch, there will be a lot of thinking and improvements to do, especially with his off spin and bowling more of it.”
However, the former Sri Lanka captain received flak over his statement, with fans highlighting Ashwin’s performance in Rajasthan’s run to the final. The off-spinner bagged 12 wickets from 17 outings at 41.91, and was the most economical among RR bowlers, conceding runs at a miserly 7.50.
He also stepped up with the bat whenever the opportunity presented itself, scoring 191 runs at 27.28 and a strike-rate of 141.28, including a maiden IPL fifty.
You have got those 2 chances to Finals Only Because of Ashwin lol. You won’t blame batters for this total won’t blame Sanju,Dev,Parag even once but will blame the bowler who succeded with the same variations in all these matches and coming to bowl in the 12th over against 2 set
— shashank (@ravia123ash) May 30, 2022
if sanga said this about Ash
release him next season no need of insulting one of the greatest cricketer of our generation.— V∆IBH∆V G∆RG (@cricvaibhav23) May 30, 2022
Lol blaming bowlers in a match were Sanju failed in batting yet another time! Sanga has gone nuts I think.
— WhatsHappening (@thiruvetti) May 29, 2022
There were also some, who backed Sangakkara’s assessment.
“Even for Ash, being a legend, there will be lots of improvements & thinking to do, especially with his off-spin and bowl more of it” – Sangakkara
When the likes of Moeen & Roston do it successfully, Ashwin needs to have a relook. #Cricket #IPLFinal #IPLFinals #IPL #GTvsRR #GTvRR— CricDude (@TheCricDude) May 29, 2022
