IPL 2021 | 'Virus right at my doorstep': R Ashwin issues urgent warning amid COVID-19

With IPL 2021 underway amid the second wave of COVID-19, Delhi Capitals (DC) spinner Ravichandran Ashwin urged people to follow best practices to avoid contracting the deadly disease. Revealing that the virus had reached his doorstep, Ashwin sent his sincere prayers to everyone to follow COVID-19 rules and help in tiding over the health crisis.

Ashwin's absence cause of DC's loss to RR? 

After winning the first game against Chennai Superkings under debutant captain Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals failed to perform against Rajasthan Royals for their second match as their top order crumbled against the Men in Pink. Managing to set a target of only 147 runs in the game, DC was up for defeat as they failed to stop their rivals from bringing up the numbers and chasing their easily defendable target. After their loss against Rajasthan, Delhi fell to the 4th position of the IPL 2021 points table. 

In a post-match interview, Ricky Ponting opined that not letting Ashwin complete his bowling quota was an error of judgment on their behalf. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a 3-over spell, conceding 14 runs with an economy of 4.66 as per the RR vs DC scorecard. In his stint for Delhi in the IPL 2021, the veteran pacer is just one wicket away from reaching 250 scalps in T20 cricket.

Ashwin, who was held back by the team from bowling in yesterday's match against Rajasthan Royals also has 139 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and 52 wickets in international T20 cricket. The 34-year-old is the sixth-highest wicket-taker in IPL history after Lasith Malinga, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Dwayne Bravo, and Harbhajan Singh.