India’s experienced bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin, demonstrated his versatile skills to help the Dindigul Dragons win their first Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) championship. They beat the defending champions, Lyca Kovai Kings, by six wickets in Chennai on Sunday. Choosing to bowl first, Ashwin’s strategy worked well as the Lyca Kovai Kings had difficulty scoring a high total, ending with 129/7 in their 20 overs. Although Ram Arvindh (27), Atheeq Ur Rahman (25), and S Sujay (22) made some contributions, the Kings’ batters couldn’t perform well at the crease.
The bowlers from Dindigul performed very well, with Sandeep Warrier (2/26), Varun Chakravarthy (2/26), and P Vignesh (2/15) each taking two wickets. Ashwin didn’t get any wickets, but he bowled very economically, giving away just 13 runs in his four overs. Dindigul Dragons needed to score 130 runs to win and they lost two early wickets. However, Ashwin, batting at number three, helped stabilize the innings. He made a steady 52 runs from 46 balls, his third fifty in a row in the tournament, before being dismissed at the beginning of the 18th over. Ashwin’s 65-run partnership with Baba Indrajith (32 off 35 balls) was very important, allowing the Dragons to reach the target with 10 balls remaining.
In TNPL 2024, Ashwin has been outstanding. He scored 252 runs in 10 matches with an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 151.80, including three fifties. His crucial innings in important matches, like the unbeaten 69 in Qualifier 2 against Idream Tiruppur Tamizhans and the 57 in the Eliminator against Chepauk Super Gillies have been key to his team’s success.
Ashwin played a big part in the team’s success by taking nine wickets, which means he got nine players out, with each wicket costing an average of 27.55 runs. He also kept the runs per over low at 6.92. His best performance was in the first game where he got 3 wickets for only 18 runs against the Trichy Grand Cholas.
Even though the Dindigul Dragons started the season slowly with just one win in their first three games, they got better and made it to the playoffs by winning three out of their next four games. Ashwin’s skills as a leader and his strong all-around play were very important for the team’s success in winning the TNPL 2024 trophy.
Ashwin’s great performance in the tournament ended with him being named the Player of the Match in the final, showing how important he was to the Dindigul Dragons’ victory.