IPL 2021: Ravichandran Ashwin and the hypocrisy surrounding 'Spirit of Cricket'

In a passionate outburst on Twitter, Delhi Capitals' ace-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin talked about the incident that took place between him and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan in their previous IPL 2021 match. Social media was brim with conversations regarding good and bad since the incident and Ashwin took to Twitter to address those rumours.

What happened between Ashwin and Morgan during the match between KKR and DC?

When Ravichandran Ashwin and Rishabh Pant were batting in the middle against Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR fielder Rahul Tripathi threw the ball but it ricocheted off Rishabh Pant's body and Ashwin started running in order to steal an extra run.

KKR captain Eoin Morgan interjected in the middle and the two had a fiery standoff. Dinesh Karthik played peacemaker between the two. In the words of Karthik in the post-match press conference, "I do not think Eoin appreciates it; he is someone when the ball hits the batter, he expects them not to run because of the spirit of cricket.

"It is a very grey area, a very interesting topic. I have my own opinion on it but I can just say I am happy to play peacemaker and the thing has come to a good standstill right now."

Ashwin also exchanged angry words with New Zealand's Tim Southee after the pacer dismissed him.

He didn't have to wait long to attain retribution. In the second innings, the spinner dismissed Eoin Morgan for a duck and gave him a fiery sendoff!

Ravichandran Ashwin's passionate response

On his Twitter account, Ash clarified how he viewed the entire incident and what actually happened in real time. He also mentioned that he had no second thoughts about standing up for himself when Morgan and Southee were abusing him.

While he tells that he does understand that stealing an extra run or dismissing the non-striker when he is a yard off the crease can make or break a career, the 'Spirit of Cricket' discussions can often lead to mud-slinging of character and black and white discussions which is very discouraging for the game.

"Give your heart and soul on the field and play within the rules of the game and shake your hands once the game is over. The above is the only 'spirit of the game,' I understand," tweeted Ashwin.

Earlier in the day, Parth Jindal also questioned the hypocrisy of Eoin Morgan's statements and thew his weight behind his star spinner.

The Spirit of Cricket hypocrisy

Following the match, Shane Warne blasted Ravichandran Ashwin and criticized him for trying to steal an extra single. "The world shouldn't be divided on this topic and Ashwin," he tweeted. "It's pretty simple - it's disgraceful and should never happen.

"Why does Ashwin have to be that guy again? I think (Eoin Morgan) had every right to nail him!"

Even in the commentary box during the match between KKR and DC, Simon Doull and Sunil Gavaskar echoed similar sentiments.

This is not the first time Ashwin has been in the news for violating the 'Spirit of Cricket.' His Mankad attempt on Jos Buttler became a hot topic of controversy and rage in IPL 2019 sparking all kinds of reactions from the cricket purists.

Ashwin found hordes of cricket fans and several former cricketers like Virender Sehwag at his corner. According to them, the 'Spirit of Cricket' outlook is outdated and it's a gray area that people commonly use to take the moral high ground. Sehwag even pointed out the hypocrisy in Morgan's stance when England won the World Cup Final in 2019 when the ball ricocheted off Ben Stokes' bat and crossed the boundary!