R Ashwin stirred a bit of controversy during Match 41 of IPL 2021 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals in Sharjah on Tuesday. While batting with Rishabh Pant, Ashwin attempted a second run after the ball had hit the DC captain's bat and deflected off it. This happened on the final ball of the penultimate over of DC's innings as both batsmen completed a couple of runs.
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So when off the next ball – the first of the final over – Ashwin pulled Tim Southee to deep backward square, tempers flared. Southee and Ashwin muttered a few words to each other before KKR captain Eoin Morgan entered the fray and had a heated and animated argument with the DC off-spinner. It clearly had to do with what had transpired off the previous ball and both had to be separated by KKR wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.
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Reacting to the incident, former Australia spinner Shane Warne was not pleased with Ashwin. With Ashwin generating controversy not for the first time – he was at the centre of the storm for his Mankading of Jos Buttler in 2019 – Warne called the off-spinner's act 'disgraceful' and one for which there should be no room.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the incident, former Australia spinner Shane Warne was not pleased with Ashwin. With Ashwin generating controversy not for the first time – he was at the centre of the storm for his Mankading of Jos Buttler in 2019 – Warne called the off-spinner's act 'disgraceful' and one for which there should be no room.
{{/usCountry}}"The world shouldn't be divided on this topic and Ashwin. It's pretty simple – it's disgraceful & should never happen. Why does Ashwin have to be that guy again? I think @Eoin16 had every right to nail him," Warne tweeted.
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As KKR defeated DC by three wickets, Karthik revealed the reason behind the two cricketers' unpleasant exchange, explaining how for Morgan – who believes in sportsman spirit – things such as going for a run after the ball had ricocheted off the bat goes against the spirit of the game.
"I know that Rahul Tripathi threw the ball and it hit Rishabh Pant and then it ricocheted off it and Ashwin started to run. 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," Karthik had said.