Delhi Capitals and India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday took to Twitter to give his take on the much-debated altercation that he had with Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan. Ashwin and Morgan were involved in a heated exchange after the former was dismissed by Tim Southee in the last over of the DC innings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. DC skipper Rishabh Pant and Ashwin had picked a second run off the last ball of the 19th over and that seemed to have irked the KKR outfit as some consider it to be against the guidelines of 'Fair Play' to take a run when the ball thrown by the fielder ricochets off the batter. In this case the run was taken after the ball ricocheted off Pant.
Ashwin wrote a long post in a twitter thread to give his take on the entire episode and the ensuing debate about the 'spirit of cricket'.
"1. I turned to run the moment I saw the fielder throw and dint know the ball had hit Rishabh. 2. Will I run if I see it!? Of course I will and I am allowed to. 3. Am I a disgrace like Morgan said I was? Of course NOT. 4. Did I fight? No, I stood up for myself and that's what my teachers and parents taught me to do and pls teach your children to stand up for themselves. In Morgan or Southee's world of cricket they can choose and stick to what they believe is right or wrong but do not have the right to take a moral high ground and use words that are derogatory. What's even more surprising is the fact that people are discussing this and also trying to talk about who is the good and bad person here!," Ashwin wrote while explaining what happened on the field.
He also weighed in on what he thought about the 'Cricket is a gentleman's game' discourse.
"To all the ‘Cricket is a gentleman's game' fans in the house': There are millions of cricketers with several thought processes that play this great game to make it their careers, teach them that an extra run taken due to a poor throw aimed to get you out can make your career and an extra yard stolen by the non striker can break your career.
"Do not confuse them by telling them that you will be termed a good person if you refuse the run or warn the non striker, because all these people who are terming you good or bad have already made a living or they are doing what it takes to be successful elsewhere. Give your heart and soul on the field and play within the rules of the game and shake your hands once the game is over. The above is the only ‘spirit of the game' I understand," Ashwin wrote to explain in detail what he thought about the incident and the entire debate surrounding it.
On Tuesday, tempers flared after Ashwin sneaked in a run, off an overthrow by Rahul Tripathi. The throw had ricocheted off Rishabh Pant at the non-striker's end. This upset KKR captain Eoin Morgan and he had a go at Ashwin once the DC player was dismissed in the final over of the innings. Even Tim Southee joined his captain in saying a few words to the offspinner.
KKR's Dinesh Karthik and Nitish Rana intervened to keep Ashwin and Morgan away from each other as the two continued to argue in the middle. Later in the match, Ashwin dismissed Morgan for a second-ball duck and celebrated the wicket animatedly. However, KKR had the last laugh as they won the match by three wickets.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag took to twitter and wrote in support of Ashwin. Sehwag cited example from 2019 World Cup final in which a throw ricocheted off Ben Stokes' bat and went for a boundary that helped Morgan-led England to tie the match against New Zealand. England went on to win the match on a boundary counts rule after the Super Over also ended in a tie and thus won their maiden ICC World Cup title.
"On July 14th , 2019 when it ricocheted of Ben Stokes bat in the final over, Mr Morgan sat on a Dharna outside Lord's and refused to hold the World cup trophy and New Zealand won. Haina ? Bade aaye, 'doesn't appreciate' waale," Sehwag tweeted along with a picture of Dinesh Karthik's post-match comments on the on-field altercation between Morgan and Aswhin.
(With ANI inputs)