“Please explain”: When Michael Vaughan expressed anger at ICC for not charging Ravichandran Ashwin for dissent during 2016 Mumbai Test

Michael Vaughan expressed anger at ICC for not taking any action against Ravichandran Ashwin after his argument with James Anderson.

That former England batter and skipper Michael Vaughan has a highly active presence across social media platforms in quite overt. While there is no question mark regarding his in-depth understanding of the game, some of his takes on a subject/issue does become a talking point, resultantly taking an unwarranted ugly turn at times.

One such instance occurred during England’s tour of India in 2016, when Vaughan wanted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take appropriate actions against India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin post his heated argument with England’s veteran pacer James Anderson during the 4th Test match of the series at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

Ashwin-Anderson get involved in a heated argument

With England 0-2 down in the 5-match Test series, James Anderson had, during the 4th Test at the Wankhede Stadium, decided to take a jibe at India’s best batter in the series, Virat Kohli.

The veteran pacer had apparently exclaimed that the Indian pitches had hidden the palpable flaws in Kohli’s batting. Anderson was referring to Kohli’s disastrous tour of England in 2013/14 where he averaged mere 13.50 across ten innings, with the highest score of 39 in the five-match series.

With England staring at an innings defeat during the Mumbai Test as well, Ravichandran Ashwin decided to give it back to Anderson on the fifth day to remark that someone like an Anderson should graciously accept his defeat, instead of grumbling in a distasteful manner.

The argument between the two went on for quite some time, with England skipper Alastair Cook later expressing his disappointment at the entire episode.

Michael Vaughan expressed anger at ICC

Michael Vaughan, part of the Sky Sports broadcast panel during the series, expressed his anger and disappointment at the ICC for not charging Ashwin for dissent as they did to Ben Stokes during the 3rd Test match at Mohali.

Stokes, after being unamused with his dismissal during the first innings, had come up with some distasteful comments, directed particularly at India’s skipper Virat Kohli.

Asking for an explanation from the ICC, a seemingly bemused Vaughan tried to reason with Ashwin getting away with the possible charges.

Vaughan’s Indian followers were quick to point out that unlike Stokes, Ashwin didn’t resort to using offensive language during his argument with the English pacer.

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