“Let them sell it”: R Ashwin slams pitch critics referring to Virat Kohli’s viral video from tour of South Africa

R Ashwin slams pitch critics: The Indian spinner appears to have had enough with respect to criticism of pitches in the ongoing Test series.

“Debates can be held on players, their performances, [and] how they are batting or bowling, but don’t debate on pitches. Both teams play on the same pitch and whoever plays better wins,” India opening batsman Rohit Sharma had opined while addressing the reporters about “home advantage” ahead of the third Test against England in Ahmedabad.

Sharma has now received support from India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who has spoken on similar lines to slam pitch critics especially after the pink-ball Test concluded inside a couple of days at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I’m not here to say ‘Your opinion is right’ or ‘Your opinion is wrong’. But the fact remains that the talk regarding the surface is getting out of hands. Why would you talk about the surface and sell that to us time in and time out? Is there been any other instance when surface was spoken about in any other games or country we played in,” Ashwin told reporters in a video posted by BCCI.

R Ashwin slams pitch critics

Wanting to address a larger concern with respect to the Indian media, Ashwin highlighted how comments from overseas fans and experts get highlighted in the Indian media to the extent they become a topic of discussion.

“We find it very funny when they talk about the surface and it immediately gets quoted in our press. That’s the issue here. We went to New Zealand [last year]; both Tests got over within [a total of] five days. Nobody quoted it,” Ashwin said.

The ongoing debate has also seen an old video of India captain Virat Kohli going viral where he refuses to blame the pitch for a Test loss during the tour of South Africa in 2018. Referring to the same, Ashwin suggested the Indian media and fans to not buy everything that is being said about the pitch.

“There’s a video doing the rounds where Virat [Kohli] in South Africa is saying ‘I am not here to talk about the pitch and am not comforting my boys with regards to that’. That is how we’ve been taught to play cricket. I don’t know why we promote such thoughts. That’s why I say ‘Let them sell it, buying is always our choice’,” Ashwin added.

R Ashwin explains the meaning of his tweets

It was only yesterday that Ashwin had posted a series of tweets regarding “choice” of buying and refusing when it comes to “outbound marketing”. What followed was people perceiving the tweets according to their varying understanding. Hence, giving different meanings to them.

Being asked to explain the meaning of those “cryptic tweets” today, Ashwin took the opportunity to clear misunderstandings (if any) within fans and media.

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