'Only certain section of people have a problem. They always play victim card': Ashwin's brutal rant on Deepti's run out
Ashwin came in support of Deepti Sharma following her decision to run Charlotte Dean out at the non-striker's end during the third ODI of the series against England earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Deepti Sharma made headlines after she ran Charlotte Dean out at the non-striker's end in the third ODI of the series at Lord's. It was the last wicket of the match, meaning India won by 16 runs and sealed a 3-0 clean sweep victory in the series. The dismissal caused controversy in the English cricket fraternity with many criticising Deepti for the decision to use the dismissal, despite it being within the rules of the game.
India's leading men's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came in support of Deepti during the time; Ashwin has used the dismissal himself on a number of occasions, and remains quite vocal in urging other bowlers to use it too. Earlier this week, the off-spinner opened on the issue in a YouTube video where he talked in detail about the Deepti-Dean controversy that has grappled the world cricket ever since.
"Seeing people always as if they have committed a crime. In the beginning, the whole world saw it that way. But now, most of them have started realizing that the bowlers didn't commit any crime there. Many of them have started asking why are you asking questions to the innocent instead of asking the person who should be guilty," said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
"Only a certain section of people seem to have a problem with this. In my opinion, they always play the victim card. But whenever there's something new happening, there will be some resistance by a few people and that's understandable," he added.
Ashwin also referred to the Test match in Ahmedabad between India and England in 2021, which ended in two days. Many were critical of the pitch back then, but Ashwin believes that it is a part of “controlling the narratives.”
"I spoke about this during the Ahmedabad Test when the 'pitch issue' was brought up on what was a good pitch. I said, "Do not control the narratives" because a certain section of people consciously chooses to instill in others how they should think about certain things. They control their narratives.
"In fact, I see this as a bowlers' revolution. If you look around the world, captains have mostly been batters. I don't want to get into the debate on whether they know about it or not, but as the game gets competitive it's the duty of the non-striker to stay at the crease," said Ashwin.
The India star also lauded Harmanpreet Kaur for backing Deepti on the decision, insisting that the captain's support is paramount for a bowler in such cases.
"Nobody goes to Charlie Dean and asks her, 'Why did you leave the crease?' They never ask the non-striker why they leave the crease early. So, people who have power only control the narratives. There's no question about that. So, my full support and kudos to Harmanpreet Kaur more than Deepti Sharma because a captain backing the player at that moment is very, very important. She backed her player and asked back, 'What's wrong with that, the non-striker shouldn't have left the crease, right?," Ashwin said.
"If the captain had withdrawn the appeal just because of the boo from the crowd, it would have been a stigma for Deepti Sharma, the bowler, the cricketer, and the person. She would have lived the rest of her life with that," he concluded.