'I don't know why he was staring': Ashwin said he does not know why Aaron Finch did not make an attempt to get back to his crease. (Screenshot)Ravichandran Ashwin said he let off Aaron Finch despite having a great chance of running him out at the non-striker’s end in Monday’s IPL match because of their friendship. He said he ‘let it slide’ because they have known each other since their days at Kings XI Punjab, where the two were teammates in 2018.
Narrating the moment, Ashwin said on his YouTube channel: “I went into my jump and a gold helmet floated past me without stopping. I stopped and thought for a second whether to do the run out. Even when I was thinking, he was just staring at me and didn’t come into the crease. I don’t know why he was staring.
“But he’s been a good friend since KXIP days. He’s a very nice guy, a lot of times we have sat together in the evenings and passed time. So I let it slide as a final warning.”
There had been ample attention surrounding Ashwin and the ‘Mankading’ dismissal even before IPL 2020, with Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting saying he would have a talk with Ashwin about not effecting the form of dismissal for the Delhi team. Ashwin said he had a chat with Ponting about the moment in Monday’s match and that Ponting had said he wanted Ashwin to run out Finch.
“Ponting said ‘He’s gone too far down, I myself wanted you to run him out’. He said he’s talking to the ICC committee about a run penalty…I severely feel that the punishment should be severe. Dock 10 runs for backing up. No batsman would go out then,” Ashwin said.
“Getting a batsman out like this is not a skill. But there’s no option for the bowler either if you keep going out. Can’t stop thefts till thieves themselves repent. I can’t be the police forever,” he added.
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