Pant and Digvesh Rathi - (Source : @Johns/X.com)
On Tuesday, May 27, Royal Challengers Bengaluru locked horns against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium. It was a nail-biting thriller as the three-time finalists chased down their highest total in the history of the league.
The Challengers, chasing 228, were reduced to 123/4. Meanwhile, Jitesh Sharma stole the show as he scored an unbeaten 85 (33), which featured eight fours and six sixes. The match was also marred with controversy as a lot of drama unfolded in the 17th over of the match.
R Ashwin Jumps To Digvesh Rathi's Defence
It is worth noting that Sharma survived on the 1st ball of the over as his dismissal was overturned because of a back-foot no-ball from Digvesh. Further, on the last ball of the same over, Digvesh tried to mankad Jitesh, but Rishabh Pant intervened and withdraw the appeal.
The act turned Pant into a hero, but instantly turned Rathi into a villain as the crowd started booing the right-arm spinner. The cricket pundits alongside social media users praised Pant for his act, but in the latest events, R Ashwin, who always has been a strong advocate of mankading in cricket, jumped into Rathi's defence.
Ashwin slammed Pant for his antics and stated that his act scarred Rathi and that the youngster might not look to mankad another batter in his career, because of the humiliation he faced against RCB.
"When Rathi landed his front foot, Jitesh was inside the crease. So, this was not out. But stop this vilification of the youngster in front of crores of people. Do we do that to any other people? Why does a bowler have to look small? It's actually a humiliation. And what will happen is that he will never do this again. It scarred him," Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel.
"Until now, everything was right. But after that, commentators started saying that Pant has withdrawn the appeal - what an amazing act of sportsmanship. Grow out of this. Pant is a fantastic cricketer. He scored a stunning century, and I know he will go on to do great things in cricket. I am a big fan of Pant. I'm clarifying it yet again before being targeted by people. But think, you are the father of Rathi, and his captain, in front of crores of people, criticised him. He actually went over the board. A captain's job is to back the bowler and not make himself feel small," he added.
Talking about Ashwin, he had a season to forget and couldn't save CSK's downfall as the five-time winners crashed out of the tournament in the league stage.
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