One man who loves to play according to the rules of cricket, even if they are against the 'spirit of the game' is Ravichandran Ashwin. Currently plying his services for Rajasthan Royals (RR), the spinner made heads turn yet again when his side went up against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in match 20 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
Promoted to No. 6 ahead of Riyan Parag, a move that had not pleased netizens. Many even started to question Rajasthan Royals' tactics on Twitter.
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However, the all-rounder did his job well and scored 28 off 23 balls. But suddenly, he was seen walking off which allowed Riyan Parag to join Shimron Hetmyer in the middle. Parag ended up scoring eight off four balls while Hetmyer struck 59 off 36 as RR finished on 165 for 6.
"I literally have no idea about that retire-out decision from Ashwin! It was a good decision in the end," Hetmyer told Star Sports during the innings break.
So what is retired out?
As per ICC's rules, a batter can get himself retired out in T20 cricket, but he will have to inform the umpire about the same.
According to MCC Law 25.4.3, "if a batter retires for any reason other than as in 25.4.2 (retires because of illness, injury or any other unavoidable cause), the innings of that batter may be resumed only with the consent of the opposing captain. If for any reason his/her innings is not resumed, that batter is to be recorded as 'Retired - out'."
Only four batters, including Ashwin, have been dismissed and retired out in T20s. The list includes Shahid Afridi, Sonam Tobgay and Sunzamul Islam.
Retired out in all T20s:
Shahid Afridi - Pakistanis vs Northants Tour Match, 2010
R. Ashwin - Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2022
Sonam Tobgay - Bhutan vs Maldives T20I, 2019
Sunzamul Islam - Cumilla Warriors vs CC BPL 2019
