Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was in the spotlight from the beginning to the end in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 after he ‘Mankaded’ Rajasthan Royals player Jos Buttler. Despite being heavily criticized for the act, Ashwin has expressed his desire to do the same in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
During the 4th game of the edition, Kings XI Punjab was up against Rajasthan Royals. The stage was all set for a thrilling game after Punjab posted a huge score of 184/4 in their 20 overs courtesy of a thunderstorm innings from Chris Gayle, who scored 79 off just 47 balls. He was backed by the youngster Sarfaraz Khan, who played an unbeaten cameo of 46 from 29.
In reply, Rajasthan Royals had an amazing start with both openers Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler. After the dismissal of the Rajasthan skipper, they also lost two quick wickets of Steve Smith and Sanju Samson.
It was then all down to the English wicket-keeper batsman and he was fully doing the responsibility he was given. With 10 fours and 2 sixes, Buttler scored 69 from 43 balls and almost took away the game from Punjab before skipper Ashwin stunned everyone by mankading Buttler. The English batsman was absolutely furious with him, but he had to make his way back the dressing room as ‘mankading’ is a part of the rule. Punjab then went onto win the thrilling game by 14 runs.
Meanwhile, the Indian off-spinner has made it clear that he will continue to Mankad despite all the criticism. During a Q/A session on Twitter, Ashwin replied to a fan “Anyone that goes out of the crease” when asked who are the potential batsmen he can Mankad in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
The incident split opinions but Ashwin was unapologetic about it at the time and it turns out that he maintains the opinion. However, the off-spinner will be seen in a different team this season as he was traded to Delhi Capitals by KXIP before the IPL auctions.
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