Opening up for the first time after the entire Mankading controversy, Indian spinner and Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin has said that he isn’t affected “one bit” with the criticism he has received because his conscience was “very clear” and whatever he did is permitted as per the laws of the game. The 32-year-old also took on England fast bowler James Anderson, who recently shredded Ashwin’s photograph, saying “today Jimmy Anderson might feel that whatever I did was wrong but maybe tomorrow, he might end up doing it.”
Speaking exclusively to Aaj Tak in an in-depth interview, Ashwin said he had kept quiet on the matter all this while because he didn’t want to further ignite opinions on the matter which have left the cricketing fraternity divided since March 25 when the match was played at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Rajasthan batsman Jos Buttler became the first batsman to be Mankaded in the history of IPL when Ashwin ran him out at the non-striker’s end, claiming that the opener had left his crease much before he could load up into delivering the ball.
“Whatever I say will raise some eyebrows in terms of what my opinion on that is. That is why I didn’t feel the necessity to explain myself as well. A rule is a rule and it there is the book for everyone to use. The only factor which sort of makes me uncomfortable is how the bowling community is being victimized. Why isn’t a bowler allowed to bowl a no-ball as a repeat offender? If I have to bowl the ball within the 22 yards, why is the batsman allowed to steal a few yards on that? I am sure there have been debates about how far he was down the ground. But, I think even one rupee is still a theft. Whatever it is, I have to control my space and I was right in doing what I did. For me everything is about my conscience and it is very clear after what I did,” Ashwin said in Chennai, two days before taking on Chennai Super Kings in his hometown.
Ashwin, who has to his credit 342 Test wickets and another 150 in ODIs, isn’t convinced with the theory opined by many experts that his act wasn’t in spirit of the game.
“There are people who have been speaking about the incident over and over again. People have nicked the ball and actually debated about taking a DRS. As a batsman when I knick the ball, I know I have knicked it so there is no question of deliberating or taking a DRS. There are times when you make a strategy in DRS review as well considering the importance of a batsman or a crucial juncture of the game. That all again can be invoked as the spirit of the game. Why when a batsman does is in the spirit of the game being actually brought into the fore. Even if you look at what happened to Keemo Paul, he was victimized till the end of the Under-19 World Cup. I actually think that if you bring in the spirit of the game into this and keep on talking about it again and again, it is up to the authorities to decide that whether you want to continue this as a rule of the game or not. There is absolutely nothing – I have to inform which side of the wicket I am bowling from, I have to bowl from behind the crease, the line belongs to the umpire, the line sometimes belongs to the batsman – the inner half of it, he can stand right-handed and hit me left-handed, he can make a switch hit and he can actually walk down the pitch and hit me too. What about the spirit of the game when it comes to bowler’s psyche. I think you can debate till the cows come home about whether what I did was right, wrong and it is up to people’s perception what they believe it is. To me, as I said, it is all about my conscience. About 10 years ago, there was probably a rule, or it used to be said, that you warn somebody and then do it again. That was for a 50-over game and this is a T20 format, so even the warning space is lesser,” he said.
