IPL 2020: 'You know Ricky, he won’t leave any fight' – R Ashwin opens up on the verbal battle between Virat Kohli and Ricky Ponting
Delhi Capitals off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently revealed that his team's head coach Ricky Ponting and Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli were involved in a verbal battle during the penultimate league match of IPL 2020 on November 2.
On his YouTube show, Ashwin stated that he had left the field after bowling his 4 overs owing to a back problem. And when Virat Kohli was discussing the same with the on-field umpires during the strategic timeout, Ponting said something before the two engaged in a war of words.
“I had a back problem when I ran. It was a terrible pain. They took MRI scans and it was traced to a nerve pull to the back. I went off after bowling. And you know Ricky, he won’t leave any fight. And when RCB questioned, he said we aren’t like that etc. heat of the moment,” Ashwin, who picked up 13 wickets in IPL 2020, said.
Both sides were fired up in that game, as the winners were slated to seal a spot in the IPL 2020 Qualifier 1 alongside the Mumbai Indians while the losing side were to be left with no guarantee to make the playoffs.
Even though RCB fell to a 6-wicket loss, they qualified as the fourth-placed team after edging past KKR on the basis of NRR (Net Run Rate).
‘It was a matter of pride for Virat Kohli’ - R Ashwin
The match also saw Ravichandran Ashwin dismissing Virat Kohli for the first time in the IPL. The RCB captain got out to the former after a 24-ball 29. Regarding the same, Ashwin added that both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni don’t want to take any chances and lose their wicket to the off-spinner.
“I have always loved bowling to Virat. He would never take chances against me. Would not give his wicket; it was a matter of pride for him. MS Dhoni also, is like that. In Pune, 2016, I set him up with a ball outside off and it went really high and just as I was thinking, ‘Aaha, Kohli wicket,’ Ankit Sharma let the ball slip through his hands at extra cover. ‘Ai, what have you done,” concluded Ashwin.
The Delhi Capitals also let their maiden IPL trophy slip through the hands after losing the IPL 2020 summit clash to MI by 5 wickets. Ashwin and Virat Kohli will now share the dressing room during (part of) the Test leg of India’s tour of Australia, which starts on November 27.