India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he has spoken to Ricky Ponting, his coach with the Indian Premier League team Delhi Capitals, on the issue of running-out batsmen who back up too far at the non-striker’s end.
The issue became a talking big point when Ponting said he would have a discussion with Ashwin on the controversial manner of getting a batsman out ahead of the IPL starting September 19 in the UAE.
Ashwin ran out England batsman Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end last season when he backed up too far, drawing criticism for his act as many called it against the ‘spirit of the game’. While Ashwin has reached Dubai, Ponting is set to arrive next week and the two will talk in person before the Indian reveals what transpired between them.
“Ricky Ponting hasn’t yet reached (Dubai). After he comes, we will sit for a chat with him. He said he wants to have a conversation. We have already talked over the phone. It was a very interesting chat,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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Ashwin said it’s better to have a face-to-face conversation since the message of the heavily-accented Australians can get lost in translation.
“What happens sometimes is Australians’ messages in English get lost in translation and reach us with a different meaning. Even some of their jokes become news. That’s what it is and next week I will reveal a bit more about my conversation with Ricky.”
Ponting had said he will have a “hard conversation” with Ashwin and wouldn’t want him to repeat the act at Delhi Capitals since it was “not within the spirit of the game”.
Ashwin on Monday suggested the introduction of a “free ball” for bowlers if non-strikers back up too far, sticking to his stand that there was nothing wrong with running such batsmen out.
“Make it a free ball for the bowler. If the batsmen gets out on that ball, the batting team will be docked five runs. Free hit adds to the drama for a batter, let’s give a chance to the bowlers too,” Ashwin wrote on Twitter.
(Inputs from PTI)
