Ravichandran Ashwin became the first cricketer to be retired out in the IPL during the Rajasthan Royals-Lucknow Super Giants game at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Sunday.

It was after the third ball of the 19th over of the Royals innings that Ashwin left the ground, having scored 28 off 23 balls and stitched a vital 68-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shimron Hetmyer.

The need for a younger batsman who could hit the ball hard and run faster between the wickets seemed to be the apparent reason behind the 35-year-old Ashwin being retired out.

“I literally have no idea about that retired-out decision from Ashwin. He was a bit tired though,” Hetmyer said at the mid-innings break.

“It was a good decision, as the kid (Parag) hit a six for us.”

Parag, 20, scored 8 off the four balls he faced and hit Lucknow all-rounder Jason Holder for a six off the fourth ball of the final over.

There’s one instance from the past of a batsman being retired out in T20 cricket in similar fashion. Back in December 2019, in the South Asian Games, Bhutan’s Sonam Togbay retired out at the end of the 19th over of the game against Maldives in Kirtipur, Nepal.

The relevant law (25.4) in the ICC’s men’s T20I playing conditions states: “A batter may retire at any time during his/her innings when the ball is dead. The umpires, before allowing play to proceed, shall be informed of the reason for a batter retiring.”

Harshal exits bio-bubble

Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel has left the IPL bio-bubble following the death of a family member.

Harshal exited the bubble after getting to know about the tragedy in the family right after the game against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. “Unfortunately, Harshal had to leave the bio-bubble due to a death in his family. It was his sister,” said an IPL source. (PTI)