Delhi Capitals made news over the past couple of weeks after their head coach Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying that he wouldn’t like his players running-out batsmen at the non-striker’s end during the upcoming 13th edition of the Indian Premier League.
Ponting was reacting to Ravichandran Ashwin’s run-out of England batsman Jos Buttler during IPL 2019. The Indian off-spinner has joined the Capitals after captaining Kings XI Punjab last year.
The former Australia skipper had said he would have a “hard conversation” with Ashwin about the issue when the two would meet in the United Arab Emirates for IPL 2020. Turns out, the duo has had the talk and even found some sort of an understanding.
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Ashwin, who has always been vocal about this issue and wants the bowlers to be given a chance by not allowing batsmen to gain any undue advantage, spoke on his YouTube channel and shared insights on the chat he had with coach Ponting.
“Yeah, I totally get where you are coming from,” Ponting told Ashwin. “I wasn’t trying to say that you were [not] justified because it is actually in the laws of the game. You can do it. So if a batsman is cheating, and trying to steal a couple of yards.
“I just think that we have got to find a way around. Trying to stop the batsman cheating. We have had this conversation already. I don’t want to see anyone running two or three yards down the wicket. Because that basically is cheating.”
Ashwin said that he explained to Ponting why he has never been in favour of batsmen getting away with a few steps out of the crease at the non-striker’s end.
“Because I couldn’t stand the batsmen taking those extra yards. I was a batsman myself in the junior category, and I feel it is a massive advantage. And the moment I did that, the spirit of cricket was brought into play,” Ashwin told Ponting.
The 45-year-old coach offered a solution for the entire problem. He reckoned there’s a way batsmen will never want to take any undue advantage.
“I think there should be some sort of a run penalty,” said Ponting. “If you are to get to the top of your bowling action and stop, and it shows that the batsman is cheating and is out of his crease, I think put a run penalty on them. And do it right from the start, because that will stop him right away. Imagine taking 10 runs off a team total because you have taken yards… those sort of things need to be looked at.”
Watch Ashwin talk about his chat with Ponting here: