First cricketer to retire out in the history of the Indian Premier League, ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has now become the first-ever cricketer to take a second review on the same ball in order to challenge the third umpire’s decision in a cricket match.
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Call it unique, smart or bizarre, Ashwin unsuccessfully opting for a second review on one ball will be remembered among fans for a long time. Known for his gutsy experiments, only Ashwin could pull off such an act on a cricket field.
Ashwin, who couldn’t make it to the Indian Playing XI during the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 final against Australia at The Oval a week ago, put on display a strange set of events in a Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023 contest at the SNR College Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
R Ashwin Takes Second Review On Same Ball To Challenge Third Umpire’s Decision
It all happened on the last delivery of the 13th over when Dindigul Dragons captain Ashwin beat Ba11sy Trichy all-rounder R Rajkumar in the air. With the right-handed batter aiming for an expensive drive, all he did was play inside the line of the ball only for Ashwin and wicket-keeper Baba Indrajith to appeal in unison for a caught behind dismissal.
Given out by the on-field umpire, Rajkumar didn’t think a lot before reviewing the dismissal. Taking into consideration gap between the bat and ball in addition to the bat touching the pitch (reason behind spike on UltraEdge), third umpire S Nishaanth reversed the decision to benefit the batter.
Ashwin, who failed to come to terms with Nishaanth denying him of a wicket, immediately challenged his decision. With the same resources available to the same person in the second review as well, there was no way Nishaanth would’ve changed his own decision. Hence, he adjudged the decision in the favour of Rajkumar for the second time on the same ball.
Readers must note that DRS is being used for the first time in the TNPL this season. Perhaps Ashwin, as captain, wanted to make use of all the resources to do even better than bowling figures of 4-1-26-2.
Can DRS Be Taken Twice On One Ball?
Yes. It is noteworthy that there is no rule which refrains a cricketer from opting for two reviews for the same decision. A basic reason why we haven’t seen it happening in the past is “common sense”.
Why would a captain or a batter challenge a third umpire’s decision knowing that the latter wouldn’t change his own decision? The only entity to benefit from such a scenario would be the opposition upon seeing someone losing a review.
