Such is the nature of the event that the Indian Premier League (IPL) can hardly stay away from controversy. The 2021 season has been no exception with a heated spat on the pitch between Eoin Morgan and Ravichandran Ashwin giving birth to the seasons’ biggest flare-up so far.
Ashwin’s decision to go for another run after a throw that deflected for an overthrow after hitting Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant has angered Morgan. In the aftermath, a big ‘spirit of cricket’ debate has occupied the cricketing fraternity with a deep divide amongst fans on who is in the right and wrong.
While the war of words from all sides continues, former cricketer Virender Sehwag has blamed Dinesh Karthik for not playing down the incident to the media.
Talking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag said “I consider Dinesh Karthik the biggest culprit in all this. If he had not talked about what Morgan said, there would have been no such uproar. If he had said, “It was nothing much, just an argument, it happens in the game, move on,” then it would have come out in that sense only. What was the need for an explanation that someone thinks this or that?”
In the virtual post-match press conference following the culmination of the Kolkata Knight and Delhi Capitals match, Karthik had claimed he played peacemaker saying, “Rahul Tripathi threw the ball, it hit Rishabh Pant, and then it ricocheted off that. Then Ashwin called for it and they started to run. I don’t think Morgan appreciates that. He is somebody who, when the ball hits the batsman or the pad, expects them not to run in the spirit of cricket. It’s a very grey area and a very interesting topic. I have my own opinion on it but at the moment I’d just say I am happy I played peacemaker and things have come to a good standstill right now.”
Sehwag recounted an incident from his playing days with Punjab Kings to elaborate on why he believes Karthik should have stayed quiet.
“Even when I was playing for Punjab, Ashwin dismissed Maxwell, picked up some dust and blew it off [in celebration]. I didn’t like that scene either but I didn’t come out publicly to say that he should not have done that or it was against the spirit of the game, although MS Dhoni was very angry about it and scolded him a lot too,” said Sehwag.
He added “Even when I was playing for Punjab, Ashwin dismissed Maxwell, picked up some dust and blew it off [in celebration]. I didn’t like that scene either but I didn’t come out publicly to say that he should not have done that or it was against the spirit of the game, although MS Dhoni was very angry about it and scolded him a lot too.”
The former Indian opener stressed the importance of players leaving what happens on the ground inside the ground. “What happens inside should remain inside. If more things from the inside start coming out, I can guarantee every match will have something like this that will cause an uproar. The spirit of the game also says that players should leave what happens inside the ground as is and move on,” said Sehwag
