"Hopefully you will not tell my parents" - Ravichandran Ashwin brutally trolls fan for bringing up controversial run-out
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been a vocal participant in the 'Spirit of Cricket' debate, called out a Twitter user on Thursday for raking up his controversial non-striker run-out - also known as 'Mankading' - of Jos Buttler from IPL 2019.
The user was commenting on a post showing a non-striker run-out by former captain Kapil Dev from a 1992 ODI game. He took a sly swipe at Ravichandran Ashwin, pointing to how Dev's actions were 'fair' and in 'true spirit' because he had warned the non-striker and didn't 'wait' for him to leave the crease - something which the spinner was heavily chastised for in 2019.
"Kapil has played it very fair…by warning Kirsten once and not claiming the first time. More importantly he did it by NOT stopping and waiting for Kirsten to go out of the crease. This is in the true spirit. @ashwinravi99 @DineshKarthik @bhogleharsha @vijaylokapally @kartikmurali" said the user.
Unaffected, Ravichandran Ashwin declared that he will continue to stick to his methods. He even also took a hilarious dig at the user, sarcastically asking him for his permission and hoping that the user won't complain to his parents.
"I would do it again if a batsman goes out of the crease. I would also like to seek your permission to do the same cos if a bowler needs to run a batter out that way, he/she needs to premeditate the same and hopefully you will approve of the same and not tell my parents about it," wrote Ravichandran Ashwin.
The senior spinner has been determined in his stance against the criticism of premeditated non-striker run-outs, which he believes is unfair towards the bowlers.
He is often seen speaking on the topic with former players on his YouTube channel as well as his social media pages. It even took some elaborate debating from his Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer to convince the 34-year-old against doing so during his stint with the franchise.
Ravichandran Ashwin spinning magic on English soil
Ravichandran Ashwin's off-field banter was also matched by a stunning on-field performance on Thursday. The tweaker bowled a magnificent spell for Surrey in his first County Championship game for the team, picking up six wickets in his 15 overs at the cost of just 27 runs.
His returns, combined with that of youngster Daniel Moriarty's 4-wicket haul, bundled out Somerset for a mere 69 in the second innings and helped Surrey save the game. India will hope that their most experienced campaigner will carry the form to the India-England Tests, which start on August 4.