I didn’t look at social media for almost 15 days after mankading incident: Ravi Ashwin

The 2019 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) got off to a controversial start earlier this year when Ravi Ashwin mankaded Jos Buttler. The England batsman was playing beautifully until then and his team Rajasthan Royals just lost their way after the incident. Ashwin had to face a lot of flak after the match with the customary ‘spirit of cricket’ point being debated all over especially on social media.

Ashwin backed his actions even in the post-match press conference and went on to say that he doesn’t regret what he did. Long time after that incident, the off-spinner has opened up once again and has claimed to have not checked social media for close to 15 days. The outrage was severe over mankading and for almost all the remaining matches there was an eye on the batsmen at the non-striker’s end.

Speaking at the chat show Breakfast with Champions hosted by Gaurav Kapur, Ravi Ashwin cleared that the incident and the outrage post that didn’t really bother him much. “Actually it has not bothered me at all, to be honest. After the press conference, when I called my wife she said, “You don’t want to look at social media tonight.” I didn’t look for social media for the next days 10-15 days, to be honest,” he said.

People called me up and said I was right

Ravi Ashwin further also added that a few of the former cricketers called him and conceded that his actions were well within the rules of the game. The likes of Kapil Dev and Murali Kartik were the people who rang the off-spinner and told him that he was right. “I did get a few people calling me up and saying I think you did the right thing that includes Kapil Dev and Murali Kartik. You don’t have to worry about what people are having to say,” Ashwin further added.

Well, the mankading is still trending on social media as some of the fans keep on teasing the cricketer. However, Ravi Ashwin has been sporting enough to accept it and replied to those with a touch of humour.

Here’s the video: