The third Test between India and England has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. As both sides face off in Rajkot, one of the most discussed moments of the clash has been veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin being penalised for running onto a protected area of the pitch.
Ashwin played a delivery by Rehan Ahmed onto the covers and tried to take a single before Dhruv Jurel sent him back. The all-rounder was penalised after he had a talk with umpire Joel Wilson, which meant that England started off their innings with 5/0.
Speaking of the same, former England cricketer Sir Alastair Cook came forward and alleged that Ashwin deliberately ran onto the protected area of the pitch as this would help him during his bowling stint.
“Is it deliberate? Yes, it is. It’s a tactical ploy that you can disturb the middle of the wicket because Ashwin wants as much help as possible when he can bowl. Normally, it happens in the third innings. You’re 150-200 runs ahead, and you think, ‘just make sure you get up and down the wicket’… that was gamesmanship there, wasn’t it?” Cook told TNT Sports.
If English media and players think it was on purpose, it wasn’t, If that’s how they want to treat it, so be it: Ashwin
However, seeing Alastair Cook’s allegations, Ashwin hit back at the former batter, opining that his poor motor skills did not allow him to get off the pitch in time. He also revealed that he was unaffected by what the English media and players thought of the situation.
“They clearly warned some of our batters (on Thursday) for running on the pitch. I was aware of it, but my poor motor skills didn’t allow me to get off the pitch in time. If the English media and players think it was on purpose, it wasn’t. If that’s how they want to treat it, so be it. I went to (on-field umpires) Joel (Wilson) and Kumar (Dharmasena) and said, ‘that’s pure poor motor skills. If I was any better, I would have been in the Olympics. Why play cricket,” Ashwin said in the press conference after the day.