Ace Indian spinner R Ashwin would’ve been gutted had someone dismissed him like England batter Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in the recently concluded second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s. Ashwin, six of whose 213 dismissals in international cricket have been stumpings, was referring to a particular kind of stumping that has more to do with the casual nature of the batter.
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Bairstow rightly getting out to Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey on Sunday has divided the cricketing fraternity into two parts. Ashwin had talked about the incident in one of his earlier tweets where he said that Carey did nothing wrong by dismissing Bairstow. He highlighted that Bairstow must have done the same thing a number of times which inspired Carey to attempt a cunning stumping.
Ashwin has often said that going through the rule books is not against the “Spirit of Cricket”. He asked people to applaud the smartness of Carey instead of criticizing him. Ashwin had once even trolled people who are against running out batters at the non-striker’s end.
R Ashwin Would’ve Been Gutted Upon Being Stumped Like Jonny Bairstow
Being asked a question by senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, an honest Ashwin revealed how he would have felt at committing such an error. Ashwin agreed that he would be very disappointed if he replicated Bairstow’s blunder.
“I would be disappointed, very disappointed, in fact gutted with myself for getting out like that,” Ashwin tweeted.
Such a dismissal at a crucial juncture of the match was always going to be perceived differently. Depending on if they are on the suffering end, even top players have a tendency to practice double standards in such cases.
For instance, a video doing the rounds across social media platforms sees Bairstow dismissing veteran all-rounder Samit Patel in a County match in not only the same manner but after waiting for the batter to leave the crease unlike Carey.
Similarly, veteran England pacer Stuart Broad also once clearly edged a ball to first slip but didn’t walk after the umpire ruled him not out. He stood on the crease despite knowing that he was out. Hence, Spirit of Cricket was, is and always remain subjective.
R Ashwin Retweets Grant Elliott’s Video
R Ashwin also retweeted a video from former New Zealand all-rounder Grant Elliott. In the video, it is clear that Bairstow was leaving his crease a lot of times before being dismissed. Therefore, Carey, who observed a pattern, was right in attempting a stumping dismissal.
Elliott also agreed that it was Bairstow’s mistake in the dismissal as he was very lazy in the process. R Ashwin also stamped his verdict on the same.
