Ravichandran Ashwin was once again involved in a IPL controversy after the Delhi Capitals (DC) off-spinner engaged in a heated exchange with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan and pacer Tim Southee in Match 41 of IPL 2021 at Sharjah.
Ashwin, who was batting with DC captain Rishabh Pant in the closing stages of their innings, called over the wicketkeeper-batter for an overthrow after the ball had deflected off him while completing the run off the final ball of the 19th over. Normally, batters prefer not to take the overthrow runs in such cases, but Ashwin chose to run or perhaps did not realize the ball had ricocheted off Pant.
Ashwin was dismissed off the first ball of the final over by Southee, after which the KKR pacer had something to say to the spinner who replied in kind. Morgan too joined in and that's when Ashwin lost his cool and walked towards the England cricketer before KKR wicket-k Dinesh Karthik intervened and tried to settle the issue.
When KKR batted, Morgan was dismissed by Ashwin for a second-ball duck, as the spinner passionately celebrated his wicket after having the last laugh in their duel. KKR, however won the match by three wickets to bag two vital points in a low-scoring game.
Karthik later explained what happened in the middle during his virtual press conference, as he said, “I know that Rahul Tripathi threw the ball and it hit Rishabh Pant and then it ricocheted of that and Ashwin started to run. I do not think Morgan appreciates that, he is someone when the ball hits the batter, he expects them not to run because of the spirit of cricket. It is a very grey area, a very interesting topic. I have my own opinion on it but I can just say I am happy to play peacemaker and thing has come to a good standstill right now,”
Former Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag, reacted sharply to the comments by Karthik where he said Morgan did not ‘appreciate’ what Ashwin chose to do which according to him goes against the spirit of the game.
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Sehwag took a dig at Morgan for saying nothing during the 2019 World Cup final when the ball had famously ricocheted off Ben Stokes' bat to the boundary which played a big part in England tying the final before winning in the Super Over against New Zealand.
He wrote on Twitter, “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”
Morgan downplayed the incident after the game as he said during the post-match presentation, “On a hot day, things can boil over. Thankfully it didn't. We all played in the right spirit.”
