Rahane says Ashwin bowling one over must be due to the nature of the pitch

Ajinya Rahane guided IPL debutant Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) to a sublime nine-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After the win, he also pointed out that a seamer friendly wicket might have been the reason why India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was given only one over.

Pune captain MS Dhoni just used Ashwin for a single over in the 16th over of MI’s innings. Rahane said that the nature of the pitch was very different from the batting friendly pitches of Wankhede, and this must have prompted Dhoni to execute the move. He further added that he cannot know the exact reason why Dhoni went with the move.

The Wankhede wicket was different as compared to previous wickets we played on

After RPSG’s win over MI in the tournament-opener, the 27-year-old said, “I don’t know the reason, the captain must be knowing that. This was a different wicket as compared to the wickets we played on against the West Indies in the World T20 semifinals on March 31 or even the ODI against South Africa,”

The off-spinner got the wicket of Ambati Rayudu with his first ball of the tournament and gave away only seven runs but skipper MS Dhoni did not give him the ball again. Previously Ashwin had given only two overs in India’s World T20 semi-final defeat against eventual champions West Indies at the same venue.

It was important to take the wickets and not give many runs

Rahane thought that the pitch was fairly pacer-friendly and suited the pacers well. He said, “This was a slightly seamer-friendly wicket. Ashwin is an experienced bowler, a quality bowler. But today I felt our fast bowlers were bowling really well. It was important to take the wickets and not give many runs,”

However, the Mumbai-born right-handed batsman was the star of the RPSG’s win on Saturday. His classy unbeaten knock of 66 of 42 balls guided the new franchise to their first ever win. His opening partnership of 78 runs with South African Faf du Plessis gave Pune a solid platform while chasing 122 against the defending champions.

Rahane was ecstatic after the win and explained that winning the first match of the tournament is very important. He said, “It feels good to start well in the first game. It was always important to get the momentum. I felt it was important to bowl well on this wicket. We thought this could be a 170 or 180 wicket before the game. But the ball was stopping a bit. We got the first 4-5 wickets early. That was very important and credit is due to our bowlers.”