Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Deep Dasgupta on Friday (October 1) said the words allegedly used by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan against the Delhi Capitals (DC) spinner R Ashwin were “extremely harsh”.
Recently, Ashwin has embroiled himself in a new controversy in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) and has been criticised for going against the spirit of the game after he was involved in a heated exchange with Morgan and KKR bowler Tim Southee.
The incident, which sparked the controversy, took place during the 41st game in the ongoing IPL 2021 between DC and KKR in Sharjah. During the 19th over of DC’s innings, Ashwin ran for a quick single alongside Rishabh Pant after the ball hit the wicketkeeper-batter's arm and deflected away.
The move wasn’t liked by Morgan and Southee, as they got involved in an ugly spat with Ashwin during the match and Dinesh Karthik had to interrupt and brought peace to the proceedings.
Reacting to the controversy, Dasgupta said he might not agree with Ashwin’s decision, but he wasn't happy with the sort of words that included "disgrace" were used in the argument against the veteran spinner, saying some better words could have been used.
Dasgupta said on his YouTube channel, “My opinion can be different and I may disagree with Ashwin, and that is fine. But the words that have been used so far like 'disgrace' and 'ashamed,' these are very harsh words. These are extremely, extremely harsh words. If there is only disagreement, better words could have been used.”
He wasn’t also pleased with Australia spin legend Warne’s recent statement against Ashwin's actions. The former wicket-keeper said: “Just because your thoughts are different and mine are different from yours, does not mean words like these are used. Especially from influential people and role models in cricket. Feel weird hearing things like these from them.”
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As the spirit of the game talk rages on among fans and cricketers, Dasgupta feels that it varies from person to person where the spirit of cricket line is drawn.
He signed off by saying, “What I think is that, the rules of the game is a line, and the spirit of the cricket can be drawn anywhere inside the line, depends on you. The line is a barrier, as long as it is being drawn inside of it, there should not be any issue.”
