Ravi Ashwin ‘Mankading‘ Jos Buttler in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game between Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Rajasthan Royals during the 2019 edition of the game, is one of the controversial incidents in IPL history. However, ever since the incident, the debate over the ‘spirit of cricket’ has been going in the cricket fraternity.
While several cricketers spoke against Ravi Ashwin, on the other hand, there were many who came out in support of the cricketer and claimed that there is nothing wrong with the move. However, one thing is sure that if a player ‘Mankads’, he cops a lot of flak. And the same happened with Ravi Ashwin.
Recently, in a conversation with Murali Kartik on the YouTube show DRS with Ashwin, Ash revealed why the Indian pacer refused to resort to ‘Mankading’ just 15 days later after their RR clash against Mumbai Indians.
During the conversation, Ash opened up on why he thinks it’s unfair to criticize the bowler for stopping the batsmen who are looking for an opportunity to gain an unfair advantage. He revealed:
“The batsman are so used to meandering along. Someone asking them to stay inside the crease itself looks like a hindrance to them. This is so wrong asking a bowler not to run batsmen out at the non-striker’s end. Especially, when the game is so competitive, I firmly believe that a bowler shouldn’t be stopped.”
Ash also disclosed details of his conversation with Ankit Rajpoot. He revealed:
“After the incident happened against Rajasthan (Jos Buttler Mankading controversy), in the next match we were playing Mumbai. The last-wicket pair of Rahul Chahar and Alzarri Joseph were batting. One ball and two runs to win. I went to the bowler Ankit Rajpoot and told him, ‘these batsmen will be charging out to run. Just stop and send them back in if he (non-striker) starts running before you deliver’. He was scared and said, ‘No way, I won’t do that.”
Shedding more light on why Ankit Rajpoot didn’t pull the plug, he revealed:
“He (Rajpoot) froze when he came to deliver. He came and said to me, ‘If I do this, it will create controversy and I will be made the villain. I told him, ‘what you are doing here is correct. The non-striker is at fault here.”
In that particular match, Mumbai Indians won the game as they successfully chased the title of 198 runs in exactly 20 overs.
