Rahane reveals why he sent Jaiswal off field during Duleep Trophy 2022 final

Former Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane has revealed stunning details behind his decision to send Yashasvi Jaiswal off the field during the Duleep Trophy 2022 final in Coimbatore.

The incident occurred on Day 5 of the match on September 25, 2022, when Rahane was leading West Zone against South Zone. During South Zone’s second innings, Jaiswal had an altercation with opposing player Ravi Teja in the 50th over. The situation escalated further when umpires spoke to Rahane about the young batter’s conduct.

Rahane made the instinctive decision to ask Jaiswal to leave the field temporarily. The batter returned after being away for seven overs.

In a recent interview, Rahane revealed the critical reason behind this action. He believed Jaiswal had unknowingly crossed the line of acceptable conduct and that without intervention, the young player faced the prospect of a four-match ban.

“I read the situation. I sensed at that point in time that it probably would have gone out of hand. Yes, at that point Yashasvi must have felt bad. But I sensed what could happen going ahead. I have seen many situations where players have been banned, and you never know how times change. You lose one opportunity and your time is up. You never know. I sensed the situation and realised it was going out of hand. Both the players were losing control. And it was my responsibility to stop my teammate,” Rahane said in The Indian Express interview.

The match referee was ready with a four-match ban – Rahane

The match referee had already prepared a four-match ban for Jaiswal before Rahane’s intervention. However, the referee did not anticipate the West Zone captain’s decisive action. Rahane later revealed the remarkable outcome of his decision. He explained that the match referee approached him with the ban letter already written and ready to be imposed.

“The match referee did not expect that. They didn’t realise I would do such a thing. The match referee was ready with a four-match ban. The letter was written. He came up to me and said, ‘This is the letter, but because you did this, I’m tearing it up.’ He tore the letter up in front of me. In the end, I was happy that Jaiswal didn’t get a match ban, and now he’s playing for India. What could have happened? Maybe he wouldn’t have played after that, or maybe not. He’s a quality player. I’m not taking any credit away from him. But you never know,” he added.

The match referee’s reaction to Rahane’s intervention

Instead of receiving the four-match suspension, Jaiswal was fined 15 to 20 per cent of his match fees. The young batter went on to deliver a match-winning performance in the final, scoring 265 off 323 balls in West Zone’s innings. Jaiswal was named Player of the Match as West Zone won by 294 runs.