Why did Ajinkya Rahane send Yashasvi Jaiswal off the field in Duleep Trophy 2022 final?

Yashasvi Jaiswal off the field: The star performer of the match was asked to leave the ground by his captain at the SNR College Cricket Ground today.

During the fifth day of Duleep Trophy 2022-23 final match in Coimbatore, West Zone beat South Zone by 294 runs to lift the title on the back of a remarkable comeback. Most successful team in the history of the tournament, West Zone have won the Duleep Trophy for the 19th time across its 59 seasons.

Chasing a mammoth 529-run target, South Zone were bundled out for 234 in 71.2 overs. Barring half-centuries from opening batter Rohan Kunnummal (93) and all-rounder Ravi Teja (53), South Zone were let down by their senior batters namely Mayank Agarwal (14), Hanuma Vihari (1) and Manish Pandey (14).

With bowling figures of 18-2-51-4, West Zone spinner Shams Mulani was the pick of their bowlers. Other than Mulani, pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Atit Sheth picked a couple of wickets apiece. With them dismissing Agarwal, Vihari, Baba Indrajith (4) and Pandey between them, Unadkat and Sheth did a significant damage in a combined total of 18 overs.

Why did Ajinkya Rahane send Yashasvi Jaiswal off the field in Duleep Trophy 2022 final?

Day 5 of Duleep Trophy 2022-23 final, however, gained traction for an untoward incident involving West Zone captain Ajinkya Rahane and opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Fielding close to the batters most of the times, Mumbai’s Jaiswal entered into a verbal spat with Hyderabad’s Ravi Teja. While the exact context of the conversation remains unknown, Jaiswal happened to have said something which crossed the line to qualify to be more than just regular cricket sledging.

As a result, Jaiswal was initially warned officially by on-field umpires. Videos surfacing across social media platforms also see Rahane having an animated conversation with Jaiswal. Visibly upset by the scolding, Jaiswal appeared to be even showing dissent to Rahane at one point.

A repetition of the incident forced umpires to intervene once again in Ravi Teja’s presence. An irked Rahane resultantly signaled towards Jaiswal to leave the ground even at the cost of fielding with 10 players for a brief period.

Perhaps after being taught a lesson or made to realize his mistake in the dressing room, 20-year old Jaiswal returned to the ground and resumed fielding.

Player of the Match in a prestigious final, Jaiswal had scored a match-winning 265 (323) comprising of 30 fours and four sixes before getting out on Day 4.