On Tuesday evening at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Robin Uthappa was clearly struggling to get the ball away. He’d been at the crease through the 12 overs of the Chennai Super Kings innings, and had managed to score only 27 off 25 deliveries. The crowd was willing him to at least get out if he couldn’t hit, so that they could watch their favourite MS Dhoni bat. CSK, who have traditionally had one of the deepest batting line-ups in the Indian Premier League, had Chris Jordan slotted in at No 9.
So there was plenty of batting to come, even if Uthappa would have done an Ashwin and retired himself out for the sake of the team, on an evening where it just wasn’t seeming to happen for him. But off the next 25 deliveries he faced, Uthappa went on to score 61, suddenly regaining the touch that drives his batting. Ten of his eventual 13 boundaries came after the 12th over. The same fans who had been screaming for his wicket now went wild chanting his name. Not only does that drive home the extremely fickle nature of T20 - and cricket fans of course - but importantly, it also brings out the complexity of the ‘retiring out’ debate.
Had Uthappa walked away at the halfway stage of his innings, we’d have never witnessed his sensational turnaround. Then again, if he’d remained stuck for a couple of more overs, CSK would have probably never achieved the breakaway finish they did to post a massive 216. No one said it is not a tightrope act.
However, like the debate surrounding whether it was unfair for a bowler to run out a non-striker before delivering the ball, we have the ever-innovating Ashwin to thank for igniting this long-overdue discussion. In nearly two decades of the existence of the game’s shortest format, it is surprising that tactically retiring a misfiring batter hasn’t even been talked about much, let alone actually implemented. Particularly considering the kind of stakes, and consequently the pressure to win, involved in the world of big T20 competitions such as the IPL and the Big Bash League.
Admittedly, it remains a batter’s game - T20 even more so - and asking a professional batter to clear the arena before he’s actually been dismissed can come across as damning, both for his morale and his record.
But like Ashwin reminded us after walking out on a reasonably decent 28 off 23 balls at Wankhede Stadium against Lucknow Super Giants last Sunday, it remains a team game. Team interest has to be paramount, more so in T20, as the impact of individual action, or inaction in this case, is far steeper on the team’s fortunes.
"It's a team game that we often forget in the euphoria. But then it's an important aspect of the game we haven't considered,” Ashwin told Cricbuzz. "T20 is more of a team game than we all know. It is almost as much as football. The goal scorers are like your opening batter or wicket-takers. But they are worth it only if your goalkeeper or defenders are ready to do what it takes.”
Perhaps we needed someone of the stature of Ashwin to compare T20 to football, a game driven and controlled so much more by the team management off the field than the players on field themselves. Even today, cricket seems loathe to let the reins slip out of the hands of the captain out on the field. In a way, they have already slipped to an extent, with so much data and planning feeding into determining tactics. This is then the next stage in that evolution - if you are getting in the way of your playmakers with too much defense, better get out.
It is also fitting that the first giant step has been taken by Rajasthan Royals, a franchise that hasn’t shied from trying different things right from the start in 2008, when they were led by Shane Warne.
“It was the right time to do that,” RR director of cricket and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara said on the Ashwin decision. “Ashwin himself was asking from the field as well and we had discussed just before that as to what we would do.
“But how Ashwin handled that situation, walking in under pressure, he batted, supported the team and then finally sacrificed himself in terms of retiring himself out and then backed it up with a magnificent bowling effort.”
RR captain Sanju Samson said that the call was something that had been in the works for a while, which could indicate that it might be tried again in what is a long tournament. “We keep trying different things. Have been talking about it before the season. We thought that if some situation occurs, we can use it. Was a team decision,” Samson said.
Shimron Hetmyer was the batter at the other end when Ashwin went off. “I had no idea about it - he was also a bit tired,” Hetmyer said. “It was a good decision, as the kid [Riyan Parag, who came in after Ashwin] hit a six for us.”
Hetmyer himself had been unable to middle the ball initially, and it was Ashwin, in fact, who’d launched a couple of sixes to begin the RR turnaround from 67 for 4. But RR chose to retire the less aggressive batter, and were proved right when Hetmyer eventually powered six sixes in a 36-ball unbeaten 59. Meanwhile, Parag heaved one of the four deliveries he faced over the rope, and RR managed to scrape a three-run win, so all was well that ended well.
The true test of what is inarguably a brave move will come when the replacement batter too gets stuck, or the innings fails to prosper after the retirement. But thanks again Ashwin, for pushing us onto the path of change once more to consider something that is radical, but also well within the rules. It is now for the rest of those in charge to ponder.
