Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie slammed Shane Warne for labelling Ravi Ashwin’s performance in the Indian Premier League 2021 “disgraceful.” Ashwin was investigated for allegedly violating the Spirit of Cricket during the Delhi Capitals’ match against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Tim Southee and KKR captain Eoin Morgan were engaged in an argument with Ashwin. The incident arose after Ashwin attempted to sneak a second run after the ball struck Rishabh Pant’s arms. He received a lot of backlash from the cricket community and netizens for his actions. Former Knights captain Dinesh Karthik also addressed the issue at the press conference.
Meanwhile, Warne was irritated when Ashwin attempted to grab the extra run. Morgan, according to the veteran, was well within his rights to criticise the DC off-spinner.
Warne took on Twitter to say, “The world shouldn’t be split on this subject and Ashwin.” It is simple: it is disgusting and should never happen. Why does Ashwin have to be that person again? @Eoin16 had every right to nail him!!!!
Jason Gillespie lets his guard down and opened up on the topic about R Ashwin
Gillespie, on the other side, felt Ashwin had done nothing wrong and followed the Marylebone Cricket Club’s rules.
“The world should not be divided on this topic and Ashwin. It is pretty simple- it is disgraceful & should never happen. Why do we blame the player that plays within the laws of the game? I believe players have every right to play within the laws of the game as set out by the MCC.”
The “spirit of cricket”, and what constitutes this, differs from country to country and in some cases, between states/counties/provinces/islands.
— Jason Gillespie 🌱 (@dizzy259) October 1, 2021
The laws of the game are in place. Stick to these and the grey areas within our game are removed. https://t.co/MY6aYqwOuQ
“The ‘spirit of cricket’, and what constitutes this, differs from country to country, and in some cases, between states/counties/provinces/islands. The laws of the game are in place. Stick to them, and the grey areas within our game are removed.”
Later, Ashwin sent a series of Tweets in which he stood up for himself in the face of widespread criticism. Ashwin was again chastised in 2019 for running out Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end.