INDIAN CRICKETER RAVICHANDRAN Ashwin has been forced to defend his actions after facing a backlash for controversially dismissing batsman Jos Buttler during an Indian Premier League game on Monday.
Buttler was on course to guide the Rajasthan Royals to an important victory over the Kings XI Punjab as he plundered an unbeaten half-century, but the game turned when Ashwin brought cricket’s ‘mankad’ run-out back into the spotlight.
As he was coming in to bowl in the 13th over, Ashwin — the Kings XI Punjab captain — checked his delivery stride, waited for Buttler to leave his crease and then whipped off the bails, forcing the third umpire to give the England international out after video replays.
The incident caused a heated exchange between the players in the middle as the rarely used dismissal, while technically within the laws of the game, is regarded as an act of unsporting behaviour and against the spirit of cricket.
The ‘mankad’ dismissal is named after Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, who twice ran out Bill Brown at the bowler’s end during India’s tour of Australia in 1947.
It’s not the first time Buttler has been dismissed in that manner, after he was run-out at the non-striker’s end by Sri Lanka’s Sachithra Senanayake in a one-day match in 2014, but usually, the batsman is given an unofficial warning by the bowler before the bails are broken.
Shane Warne was among those who led the public criticism of Ashwin, with the former Australian leg-spinner calling for India’s cricket board, the BCCI, to take action against the player.
But Ashwin, who oversaw a narrow 14-run win for his side, remained defiant in his stance post-match and said he had no regrets over the contentious game-changing incident.
“On my part, it was very instinctive. It was not planned or anything like that. It is there within the rules of the game,” Ashwin said when asked if he felt his actions were in the spirit of the game.
“I don’t really understand where the spirit of the game comes from, because quite naturally if it’s there in the rules it’s there, so probably the rules need to go back and be sorted.”
Royals head coach Paddy Upton was, unsurprinsgly, not happy.
He stated: “I think R Ashwin’s actions tonight speak for him and represent him. When I looked in the eyes of his team-mates, I’m not sure it represented his team-mates.
“I think we’ll leave it up to the IPL fans to decide if that’s the sort of thing they want to see and we’ll leave it up to the cricket world to judge R Ashwin’s actions tonight. But for us, we’re certainly here just to play cricket and entertain the fans and be good role models for the people who love the game.”
England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan tweeted, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Terrible example to set for young kids coming through. In time I think Ashwin will regret that.”
Watch the incident in full here.
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