IPL 2021: Did DC make a mistake by not bowling out Ravi Ashwin against RR? Ricky Ponting comments

Ravichandran Ashwin is an all-rounder who plays for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. He was traded to the side in IPL 2020 from Punjab Kings and has since made a decent impact, especially with his off-spins. DC has won and lost a game each in IPL 2021 so far.

The Indian Premier League 2021 is just done with its opening week and the seven games held so far have all been nothing less than thrillers. On Thursday, former champion Rajasthan Royals pulled off a surprise in a low-scoring thriller, beating Delhi Capitals by three wickets with three balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, following the loss, many reckoned why off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was not allowed to complete his full quota of four overs despite being the most economical. Ashwin gave away just 14 runs in three overs without any success and had an economy of 4.70.

Simultaneously, DC head coach Ricky Ponting admitted that the side might have made a mistake by not allowing Ashwin to complete his quota. "That's certainly something that we will talk about when I get a chance to sit down with the team. He had bowled beautifully, three overs, none for 14. Hadn't even conceded a boundary," he said during the post-match press conference, reports ESPNCricinfo.

"Look, he had a disappointing game in game one, but he has worked really hard in the last few days to make sure he adjusted and got things right in this game. I thought he bowled beautifully tonight. Probably a mistake on our behalf, and something we will be talking about later on," he added.

Ponting was also wary that too many loose deliveries were bowled at all-rounder Chris Morris, whose 18-ball unbeaten 36 took the game away from DC. "We probably gave him a few too many easy balls, a few too many slot balls if you like. The length wasn't quite where it needed to be. If you look at the replay of the game, if you bowled a reasonable yorker, he didn't score off them. If it was back of a length, sort of, above stump high, he didn't get hold of them either, especially with pace on the ball," he reckoned.

Ponting also noted that the dew made it difficult for bowlers to bowl correct deliveries, leading to leaking runs at the closing stages of the game. "The other thing you have got to factor in is just how wet and how dewy the ball was in the second innings of the game. It wasn't easy for the bowlers to grip. You could see it at the end there. There were a few full tosses that fast bowlers bowled with the ball slipping out of their hand a little bit. That's part and parcel of IPL cricket. We knew coming here that there will be a little bit of dew in the second half of the game," he concluded.

Match summary
Winning the toss and electing to bowl, RR managed to restrict DC to a modest total of 147/8, despite Rishabh Pant's 51. In reply, RR was in jitters following a nervy start. However, Miller and Morrison's heroic saved the day for the side.
Brief scores: DC 147/8 (Pant- 51; Unadkat- 3/15) lost to RR 150/7 (Miller-62, Morris- 36; Avesh 3/32) by three wickets.