IPL 2022 | Qualifier-1 | GT vs RR | How important is Ashwin to Yuzi Chahal's heroics in IPL 2022?

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 has reached its business end with the playoffs beginning form today. Qualifier 1 of the tournament will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). The team that wins this match will directly move on to the finals on the 29th of May at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

While Gujarat has looked like the team to beat this season, the Royals in Pink have grafted their way to the top four. In today's match, Yuzvendra Chahal will be the prime weapon for Sanju Samson against a formidable GT batting lineup. Chahal has been excellent with the ball in hand throughout the tournament. But as it is always said, cricket is a game of partnerships, and that stands true for Chahal's wicket-taking form in the season. Moreover, Ravichandran Ashwin has complimented Yuzi's bowling style, and they have worked as a pair leading to the team's success in the season.

Let us take a look at how important Ashwin has been to Chahal's performances.

Chahal in IPL 2022:

Innings: 14 Balls: 336 Wickets: 26 Runs Per Dismissal: 16.54 

Balls Per Dismissal: 12.92 Wickets Per Innings: 1.85

Ashwin in IPL 2022:

Innings: 14 Balls: 336 Wickets: 11 Runs Per Dismissal: 36.36 

Balls Per Dismissal: 30.55 Wickets Per Innings: 0.78

We can see that Ashwin has played a supporting role to Chahal. While Chahal has picked up the wickets, Ashwin has created pressure from the other end, putting the brakes on the opposition scoring rate.

Yuzi has reaped the benefits of Ashwin's economical bowling if we delve deeper into the periods where they have bowled in tandem.

Yuzi Chahal: This is his record in IPL 2022 while bowling with Ashwin.

Overs: 17 Runs Conceded: 115 Wickets: 15 Economy Rate: 6.76

Ravichandran Ashwin: This is how Ashwin has fared while bowling with Chahal.

Overs: 21 Runs Conceded: 153 Wickets: 4 Economy Rate: 7.28

Though the stats are for the duo bowling in tandem, the overs have not been equally distributed. Sanju Samson has often used more overs of Ashwin and slipped a couple from Yuzi in between to render the pair more effectively.

Ashwin creates the pressure by bowling economically, forcing batters to take risks against Yuzi, which helps him get those crucial wickets. The bowling style of the two has also complemented each other. Ashwin is more of a play-safe bowler who looks to stay conventional and does not like leaking runs. On the other hand, Yuzi is more of a go-for-the-kill bowler as he is prepared to get hit by the batters. He is happy as long as the wickets column looks healthy for him. So, they have complemented each other in all aspects, and it has done wonders for RR

Observation: Thus, in most of the matches, we see that Ashwin did the job of slowing the opposition down. While Ashwin has been bowling economically from one end, it has increased the pressure on the batter. As a result, Chahal has bowled with the freedom of flighting the deliveries, often inviting the batters to hit him. He has deceived the batter with his change in flight and variation of speed. Thus, he has picked up a bunch of wickets in the tournament.