There was some high-octane cricketing action on display in week three of the Indian T20 League 2022. As we reach the one-third mark of the league, teams are starting to settle in and work out what tactics are working and what aren’t. We saw a controversial moment unfold this week when Ravichandran Ashwin was retired out strategically by Team Rajasthan and they went on to win the game by three runs.
Along with this, there were some other cricketing moments to discuss as well from the week gone by. Here are our major talking points from week three of the Indian T20 League 2022.
ASHWIN’S RETIRED OUT A TALKING POINT
The whole cricketing world is talking about this particular moment when Team Rajasthan called R Ashwin back to the dugout and declared him retired out. He became the first batter to be retired out in the format and that has got people talking about this contentious moment. It was the nineteenth over of the game and Team Rajasthan had some firepower still to come in Riyan Parag. So the management decided to call Ashwin back and declare him retire out.
Ashwin had done his job till that moment as he walked into the middle with wickets falling left right and centre. He stabled the ship and left it to the finisher to put the finishing touch. Makes sense right? Not quite. Shane Watson recently lamented the off-spinner for doing this. This has been an issue that has been long talked about by analysts and Ashwin finally delivered that in the middle. We have a feeling that we might see a bit more of this as the format evolves.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH TEAM MUMBAI?
The most successful franchise in the Indian T20 League has had a disastrous start to the 2022 campaign. Many were questioning their auction strategy ahead of the season and these issues have come alive in just the first five matches of the season.
Twice now Mumbai have failed to field their quota of four foreign players and that is a clear indication of their auction strategy going horribly wrong. In what felt like a must-win game against Team Punjab this week, they suffered two inexcusable run-outs and went on to lose the game. Only once before has a team lost its first five matches of the season and that too was Mumbai in 2014.
DUBE AND ROBBIE MASTERCLASS AT BRABOURNE
Along with Team Mumbai, Team Chennai were also struggling in the initial period of the tournament. They too were winless in their first four matches and were up against it versus Team Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium.
But it was Shivam Dube and Robin Uthappa that got them out of this danger hole as the duo smashed the Bangalore bowlers all over the park. They scored more than 150 runs in the last ten overs and helped their team reach a colossal target of 216; the highest so far of the season.
PUNJAB ON THE RECEIVING END OF MORE TEWATIA MAGIC
Team Punjab became the first team to witness Tewatia magic twice in the competition this week. Rahul Tewatia, Team Gujarat’s all-rounder made his name in the tournament with a match-winning innings against Team Punjab in 2020 at Sharjah.
He did no harm to his reputation yet again in a match against Team Punjab, this time around in Mumbai. He smashed two consecutive sixes off the final two balls of the match to win a thriller for his new franchise. Interestingly, it was another West Indian, Odean Smith in the Punjab jersey who was on the receiving end of this carnage.
Read: Hardik Pandya to Iyer: Players Who The National Selectors Will Have a Close Eye On
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