We have been talking about ‘retired out’ strategy before the season: RR captain Samson

What initially was a course correction, ended up being the next big innovation in T20 cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin became the first batsman in the IPL to be tactically retired out during the Rajasthan Royals versus Lucknow Super Giants game on Sunday.
As Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara said at the post-match press conference, he got it wrong not sending Riyan Parag ahead of Rassie van der Dussen and to do the course correction, Ashwin was promoted at No. 6, with the intention of retiring him out to allow Parag a suitable point of entry. Ashwin, who came in the 10th over and walked off in the 19th over after scoring 28 runs off 23 balls, was part of the decision-making process.

“It was the right time to do that. Ashwin himself was asking from the field as well, and we had discussed it just before that, as to what we would do,” Sangakkara said at the presser.
He added: “I think as the coach, I got one call wrong, not sending Riyan Parag ahead of Rassie van der Dussen and holding Rassie back, so we couldn’t get the full benefit of Riyan. But I thought the way Ashwin handled that situation, walking in under pressure, the way he batted to support the team, and then finally sacrificed himself in terms of being retired out, was just magnificent. And then he went out in the field and backed it up with an excellent, excellent bowling effort.”

Royals captain Sanju Samson dittoed. “It’s about being Rajasthan Royals (Ashwin’s retired out). We keep trying different things. Have been talking about it before the season,” he said at the post-match presentation.

Law 25.4 on ‘Batters retiring’ allows a batsman to retire at any time when the ball is dead, upon informing the reason to the umpires. If he is not retiring due to “illness, injury or any other unavoidable cause”, he can resume his innings only with the consent of the fielding captain. If he does not resume his innings, he will be recorded as having ‘retired – out.’
This was only the fourth such case of a batsman getting dismissed thus in T20s. The first, fittingly as well as surprisingly, was Shahid Afridi for the Pakanis against Northamptonshire in 2010, but that came in a tour match after Lala had had his fill, having bashed 42 off 14. The other two instances occurred in 2019, in a game between Bhutan and Maldives, and in a Bangladesh Premier League match.
It is also fitting that it is Ashwin, never shy of suggestions, innovations to drive the game forward, who has become the first to retire out in the IPL. He has already helped in getting the act of the bowler running out the non-striker to no longer be deemed unfair play. That may not have started a trend of bowlers rushing to run non-strikers out, but this latest act of retiring himself may well be one whose time has come in T20.
Over the years, T20 has witnessed some radical experiments/innovations. In the Big Bash League played in Australia, the Power Surge has been introduced wherein two overs of Powerplay can be taken any time after the 10th over. In terms of equipment, Matthew Hayden’s mongoose bat experiment in the IPL didn’t prove to be very effective.