“Ball leke bhaag nahi jayega…” – Ravichandran Ashwin exposes IPL’s anti-bowler agenda

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has lashed out at the IPL governing council for prioritizing batting during its post-game presentation shows. He said that there are no awards if someone bowls well in the game. Ravichandran Ashwin’s comment came ahead of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) next game in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday (28th March). Ravichandran Ashwin, who is playing for his home team after a while, had a decent start to the league. The off-spinner in the game against Mumbai Indians looked in good shape and rhythm as he returned with the figures of 1/31 in his four overs Apart from playing in the league, Ravichandran Ashwin also has been reviewing the games on his YouTube channel. The off-spinner, along with some other experts, has been analyzing performances, and in the latest video, he went hard at IPL. If someone bowls well, delivers a good over, they don’t even get a single award – Ravichandran Ashwin Ravichandran Ashwin pointed out that during the post-match presentation, both the players of the teams got awards, but there isn’t anything for bowlers. He highlighted that there are awards like super striker, super fours, super sixes but not super ball. Speaking in a video, he said: “In the IPL presentation show, there are at least 10 awards that they give out to people. In fact, 50% of both teams receive some sort of award. But if someone bowls well, delivers a good over, they don’t even get a single award.” “You have the super striker, super fours, super sixes, it’s all there. Super ball isn’t there,” complained Ashwin. “One time there was a fastest ball award, but if someone hits a six off the fastest ball of the day, he will still get the award. It’s a remarkable thing.” Notably, there are awards for most boundaries, sixes, highest strike rate, among other things. There is just one award for the bowlers and that is the most dot balls delivered in a match. The most important person in this sport is the bowler – Vivek Razdan Vivek Razdan, who was co-host, weighed in on Ravichandran Ashwin’s comments, saying that the bowler is the most important person in the sport. He said that bowlers are the ones who start the game, but they don’t get respect. He elaborated: “And the funniest thing is, the most important person in this sport is the bowler. Why? Because the game only comes to life when the bowler delivers the ball. Everything else in cricket is the reaction.” “The game starts with the bowlers, and the one who is starting the game himself doesn’t get respect,” If I don’t deliver the ball then how will you hit it – Ravichandran Ashwin In response, Ashwin said: “Itna door nahin hai ki bowler ball leke bhaag nahin jayega ground se bahar (It’s not so far that the bowler can’t run away from the ground with the ball.) Agar mein ball nahin daalunga toh aap maaroge kaise? (If I don’t deliver the ball then how will you hit it?)”