Ravi Ashwin mankad: Ashwin comments on mankading Jos Buttler in IPL 2019 and why he thought he was well within his rights to do so.
During the fourth match of the ongoing 12th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab at Jaipur, Kings XI Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs to register their first victory in their first match of IPL 2019.
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Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Ashwin ended up praising his bowlers for they brought Kings XI back into the match. Given the start that Rajasthan Royals wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler provided to the host, Ashwin himself bowled four economical overs to restrict RR to 170-9 in a 185-run chase.
“We all know that after six overs it is going to slow down and gives a bit for the bowlers. Credit to bowlers on how they bowled. I have been working on a lot of variations, so pretty pleased that it came out. Also, getting the ball to duck back into the right-hander was a big plus,” Ashwin wa quoted as saying.
Highlighting the positives from the match, Ashwin picked Kings XI’s Indian pacer-duo of Mohammed Shami and Ankit Rajpoot. While he admitted that debutant Sam Curran had a “bad day”, he sounded contended with the overall result. “We ended on the right side of the coin, but I definitely think that those are game-changing moments.
“Lots of pluses. Shami’s form, Ankit’s ability to bowl and come back into the game. Mujeeb delivered the goods. Sam [Curran] had a bad day with the ball, but he came back well. Everybody ticked their boxes. We do have a few options among our midst, but if we can have good five overs, there is nothing like it,” Ashwin said.
“He wasn’t even looking at me”
While the match involved several brilliant pieces of plays on the part of cricketers, it will be remembered more for an infamous incident involving Ashwin and Buttler. In the 13th over of the Royals’ innings, Ashwin mankaded Buttler to send him back to the pavilion.
While the KXIP captain was well within his rules to do what he did, his actions saw him alluring plentiful criticism on social media platform Twitter. Being asked about the same, Ashwin said that his actions were instinctive and the same has always been his take on mankading.
“No really argument to that [Mankading incident] and it’s pretty instinctive. I actually didn’t load and he left the crease. That’s always been my take on it because it’s my half of the crease. I was not even at the crease, he wasn’t even looking at me and he just left the place,” Ashwin added.
How Twitter reacted:
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