the world saw Tushar Deshpande Showing his tenacity in the final, the Rajasthan Royals fast bowler successfully defended 11 runs in the last over against Gujarat Titans in Match 9 of IPL 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and led his team to its second consecutive win. While Deshpande was brilliant, former RR cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has praised captain Riyan Parag for trusting the fast bowler.
Ashwin has said that he failed to understand how the hosts lost the match despite being in a strong position in the first half of the run chase. The former cricketer also expected Ryan to hand the last over to Nandre Berger, who looked to be in good form, but later praised the Assam-born skipper for the risk he took by choosing Deshpande.
“I don't understand how GT lost this game. They were winning, and then they came back, and they still lost. It is not easy to hit five yorkers with only 11 to defend in the last over, especially when you have bowled the first ball wide. Riyan Parag Nandre Berger was not given the last over. We all were confident that Nandre Berger would bowl the last over. Riyan Parag's trust in Tushar Deshpande was a big risk. If Tushar had not performed like this, it would have been very difficult for Riyan Parag to answer,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin praised Dhruv Jurel's steady innings
As soon as RR batted first in the contest, they got off to a great start, with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi setting the right platform for a huge score. However, the situation deteriorated later and wickets continued to fall. But Dhruv Jurel He opened his arms and played an inning of 75 runs in 42 balls, taking the team to a score of 210-6 in 20 overs. Ashwin believes that Jurel's innings made the difference in the match.
Like KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel is also a fixed deposit. He plays fast bowlers well and also plays spin very well. If he stays at No. 3 for long, he will be in the Orange Cap leaderboard. This innings will improve Dhruv Jurel's confidence to a great extent,” he further said.
After a few consecutive wins, RR will now take on Mumbai Indians at the ACA Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati for the 13th match of the marquee T20 tournament on Tuesday, April 07. Ryan and company would like to make it a hat-trick of wins in IPL 2026 by defeating the five-time champions in their upcoming home match.
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