Former Australian skipper and Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has warned Ashwin on running out the non-strikers in the upcoming season of the IPL.
Delhi Capitals acquired Ravi Chandran Ashwin for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League during the auctions in December last year. Before that, he was the skipper of the Kings XI Punjab from the last two seasons.
Ponting spoke about the Mankading incident involving Ashwin and Buttler last season. He said that he doesn’t want Ashwin to repeat that in Delhi Capitals when the IPL begins from September 19 in the UAE. Ponting asserted that he would have a “hard conversation” with the off spinner in case he does it again.
“That’s not going to be the way that we play our cricket” Ponting said.
Ashwin mankading Buttler became viral as it received mixed reactions from the fans and other cricketers. Many even questioned Ashwin’s sportsmanship while some defended him for his actions. Being the captain of the side, Ashwin received more criticism on his spirits of the game.
Technically, Ashwin was not wrong as it comes under the ICC Code of conduct. As per the ICC Code of Conduct Section 42.11- “The bowler is permitted before releasing the ball and proved that he has not completed his usual delivery swing to attempt a run-out.”
Ponting said that once the team gathers in the UAE he would talk to Ashwin in the first place.
“I’ll be having a chat with him about it, that’s the first thing I’ll do” Ponting said during a podcast.
“Obviously, he wasn’t in our squad last year, he’s one of our players that we tried to afford to bring in this year. Look, he’s a terrific bowler, and he’s done a great job in IPL for a long period of time now, but I must admit watching that last season, as soon as it happened and he did that, I actually sat our boys down and said ‘look, I know he’s done it, there’ll be others around the tournament who’ll think about doing this well, but that’s not going to be the way that we play our cricket, we won’t be doing that'” he further said.
All the teams are expected to reach UAE by August 25 so they get enough time to prepare for the IPL 2020 and also adjust with the conditions ahead of the tournament start.
