Criticizing R Ashwin‘s statement that he ‘Mankaded’ Jos Buttler “instinctively”, legendary Indian spinner Erapalli Prasanna on Tuesday said the India Test off-spinner is lying and should have cautioned the batsman.
As per the quotes in IANS, Prasanna said, “He is feeling guilty and he is trying to cover up. I don’t think he is clear to himself. He is bluffing. He is not telling the truth.”
Kings XI Punjab skipper Ashwin ran out Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Buttler in the 13th over. When he was looking good at 69 off 43 balls in the company of Sanju Samson with the scoreboard reading 108/2. Ashwin stopped after entering his delivery stride seeing Buttler slip out of his crease, turned around and broke the stumps at the non-strikers’ end.
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The decision was sent up to the third umpire, who didn’t need much time to send a livid Buttler on his way. This was the first time in IPL history that a batsman was “Mankaded”.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ashwin said of the incident: “Look, it was very instinctive. On my part, it was very instinctive. It was not planned or anything like that. It’s there within the rules of the game. I don’t understand where the spirit of the game comes, naturally, if it’s there in the rules it’s there.”
Slamming Ashwin further, Prasanna said even a schoolboy knows he has to warn the non-striker before doing such a thing.
Prasanna said, “Even a school cricketer knows, a batsman has to be cautioned. It has to be fair play. Most important point is, such an action is taken after cautioning the non-striker, telling him that he is leaving the crease much before the ball is delivered. If he has made a statement like this, that he did it impulsively, that means he is not playing the game fair and square. Whether he is playing within the laws of the game, or not, he has to caution the non-striker. He is taking undue advantage of the 22 yards. It’s a gentleman’s game where you caution a player.”
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Clarifying on the issues, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that the captain should have maintained dignity and that even the match officials failed in their duty.
