Former India spinner R Ashwin has backed Ravi Bishnoi amid his trolling on social media following his poor performance in the second T20I of the five-match series against England at the Emirates Old Trafford Stadium on July 4. Chasing 191, England won by four wickets with an over to spare. Bishnoi faced a difficult outing, conceding 60 runs in his four overs. He also bowled three back-foot no-balls and gave away 29 runs in the 17th over, which cost the visitors.
Speaking about this, Ashwin said during a discussion on his YouTube channel (Ash Ki Baat): “It’s very disrespectful. Out of 1.6 billion people, or probably even more now, one person is playing for India; that’s considered a legend. Since when has representing India become so easy? It’s wrong. I’m not saying don’t criticize players. Criticize them. But there’s a huge difference between criticism and disrespect. Even this morning, I saw a video where someone was mocking a player through gestures. It’s not nice. It’s not in good taste.”
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“I don’t know where all this is heading. How are players supposed to deal with this constant trolling on social media? It’s just not right. I don’t know how we’re ever going to teach people where to draw the line. Ravi Bishnoi is a good cricketer. Of course, there are areas where he can improve, and we’ve discussed those shortcomings before. That’s fine,” he further added.
In the same discussion, R Ashwin also opined on the sideline no-ball rule, saying that it is time to revisit it as bowlers have limited options to work with and spinners are gradually losing their impact as well.
“I think it’s time to revisit the side-line no ball rule. It’s such an old rule. Has anyone ever looked at T20 cricket from a bowler’s perspective? Please do. Bowlers have very few options to work with. The boundaries are small, there’s very little assistance for spin these days, and spinners are gradually losing their impact. Why wouldn’t that happen when the conditions offer so little to bowlers?,” R Ashwin concluded.
