IPL 2021: "I'm disappointed to see the words that have been used in this saga" - Deep Dasgupta on the Ashwin-Morgan debate
Former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta was disappointed with the language used while expressing his opinion on the Ashwin-Morgan debacle. The on-field altercation between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain and the Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder has sparked a debate among the cricketing fraternity, including prominent ex-cricketers.
Ravichandran Ashwin and IPL captain Eoin Morgan both expressed their thoughts behind the incident after the culmination of the match. Dasgupta felt the entire concept of "spirit of cricket" is very vague and that makes it a hard line to thread.
1. I turned to run the moment I saw the fielder throw and dint know the ball had hit Rishabh.
2. Will I run if I see it!?
Of course I will and I am allowed to.
3. Am I a disgrace like Morgan said I was?
Of course NOT.
More than the incident, it was the events that have unraveled since it took place that have particularly concerned Dasgupta. While he does not hold an issue with a person expressing their opinion against something, he firmly believed the right language has to be used while doing so.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Dasgupta said:
"My opinion can be different and I may disagree with Ashwin, and that is fine. But the words that have been used so far like 'disgrace' and 'ashamed,' these are very harsh words. These are extremely, extremely harsh words. If there is only disagreement, better words could have been used."
"Just because your thoughts are different and mine are different from yours, does not mean words like these are used. Especially from influential people and role models in cricket. Fewl weird hearing things like these from them."
The world shouldn’t be divided on this topic and Ashwin. It’s pretty simple - it’s disgraceful & should never happen. Why does Ashwin have to be that guy again ? I think @Eoin16 had every right to nail him !!!! twitter.com/foxcricket/sta…
According to Ashwin, he was called a "disgrace" by the opposition skipper and even Shane Warne used the terms "ashamed" and "disgraced" when it came to Ashwin's actions.
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No major issue when you draw the line within the rules of the game: Deep Dasgupta
The incident follows in the footsteps of ugly on-field interactions from previous editions. Dasgupta noted that as long as the spirit of the game is being mended legally, there should not be an issue. He added:
"What I think is that, the rules of the game is a line, and the spirit of the cricket can be drawn anywhere inside the line , depends on you. The line is a barrier, as long as it is being drawn inside of it, there should not be any issue."
While Ashwin ended up with the last laugh by scalping Morgan for a duck, it was KKR who won the contest and delayed DC's qualification for the IPL playoffs.