The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all about surprises. Such is the demand of T20 cricket that franchises often try to outwit the opposition. Perhaps in a bid to do just that, the inaugural champions of the cash-rich league sent off-spinning all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin to open the innings along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
While they were forced to think of a new opening batter with Jos Buttler injuring himself while taking a catch, they had another top-order specialist batter in Devdutt Padikkal who hasn't quite got going in the middle order who they could have tried. However, they went ahead with Ashwin.
Meanwhile, after Jaiswal's dismissal Ashwin and Jos Buttler even got to bat with each other which also led to hilarious reactions as netizens recalled Ashiwn "mankad" dismissal of the England star in the past.
However, the plan to send Ashwin backfired as the right-handed batter got out for a 3-ball duck trying to clear the infield and get some impetus into the innings, with the team needing 198 to win.
Check out some hilarious reactions here:
After the match, RR captain Sanju Samson explained that they wanted to keep Padikkal for the middle overs as the opposition featured a left-arm spinner and a le-spinner in their ranks.