"He should have stuck with his off-spin deliveries" - Virender Sehwag on R Ashwin's horrid spell in IPL 2022 Final 

Former India batter Virender Sehwag feels that Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowler Ravichandran Ashwin should have stuck with his stock off-spin delivery on Sunday. The spinner was erratic in his spell in the IPL 2022 final, often dishing out loose deliveries, which was pounced upon by the Gujarat Titans (GT) batters.

Defending a paltry 131 at Ahmedabad, Rajasthan's bowlers had to be at their best. While Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna performed their roles to perfection in the powerplay, Ashwin let the side down in the middle overs. He conceded 32 runs off his three overs and became only the second player to lose an IPL final with three different franchises.

Critical of Ashwin's bowling display in the final at Ahmedabad, Sehwag said on Cricbuzz:

"Ashwin should have stuck with his off-spin deliveries, because it was troubling the batters. Instead, he bowled his carrom balls. There was even a rough patch formed by the end, that could have troubled Gill. He could have tried to dismiss Pandya as well like that. But, his mindset is different, tries for wickets with his variations."

GT were in a spot of bother at the end of the powerplay at 31-2. With the contest precariously placed, the champions got out of trouble, courtesy of a stable partnership between Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya for the third wicket.

Gill's catch was dropped by Yuzvendra Chahal when the batter was at 0 which turned out to be a crucial moment in the game. Former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel said during the same interaction:

"It would have been better had RR taken one more wicket in the powerplay, they had created the pressure. The complexion of the game would have been different had Gill's catch been taken. But it was sort of given that if GT play for 18-19 overs, they would chase this down, it was not a big target."

The opening batter was dropped twice during the run chase. He made the most of it by anchoring the innings and remaining unbeaten on 45 runs in the seven-wicket victory.

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"RR could have played a pacer instead of Riyan Parag" - Virender Sehwag

Making it to the finals after 14 years, RR put up a forgettable performance to finish second-best in the all-important contest. The inaugural champions were outplayed across all departments after putting only 130 runs on the board to defend.

Opining that RR could have included a pacer in their playing XI in place of all-rounder Riyan Parag, Sehwag said:

"RR knew how hard it is to play pacers on this surface, but they still went with both their spinners instead of a fourth fast bowling option. They will also question themselves that should they have batted first after winning the toss after chasing so well in Qualifier 2."

Sehwag concluded:

"They could have played a pacer instead of Riyan Parag, because even Ashwin can bat that much."

Riyan Parag endured a rather poor tournament with the bat after hardly being used with the ball. The youngster was, however, a key element for Rajasthan in terms of fielding in the deep over the course of the tournament. The Sanju Samson-led side had the option of playing Kuldeep Sen, but chose to stick with the same combination.