IPL 2019: Ravi Ashwin's action speak for him and represent him, says Paddy Upton

The fourth game of the season between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur was marred by a major controversy. In the 13th over of the innings, Kings XI skipper Ravi Ashwin had ‘Mankaded’ Jos Buttler to spark the controversy. Till that point, the Royals were looking primed to maintain their unbeaten run over Kings XI in Jaipur. Chasing 185 to win, the Royals were off to a solid start with Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane hitting the ground running.

The duo added 78 runs for the first wicket before Ravi Ashwin castled Rahane to give the visitors the much-needed breakthrough. However, it did not bring much respite for the Kings XI as Buttler was going hammers and tongs. The right-hander, who had slammed five consecutive fifties last year, scored his fifty off 29 deliveries and was batting on 69 when Ashwin decided to make him pay for leaving the crease even before the ball was delivered.

A miffed Buttler had no option but to walk off the field dejected after being out. The Royals’ chase fell apart soon as they eventually lost the game by 14 runs. Despite being comfortably placed at 148 for 2 in the 16th over, the Royals lost wickets in a heap and finished on 170 for 9 to suffer their first loss against Kings XI Punjab at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

But then again the result of the game was not the talking point because of the Mankad. The entire cricketing fraternity is weighing in on the matter and Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton has also chipped in with his views. Speaking at the post-match conference, Upton said the Royals wanted to hold their heads up and high after the incident before praising his players for their reaction to the incident.

“Jos Buttler was amazing while he was batting and for a lot of the game we batted like we wanted and really set ourselves up for victory,” he said. “I thought the players were able to stay focussed and reset themselves after that run out. I was very happy with the players themselves, the way they acted and responded to that situation. And our conscious decision was to hold our heads up high and maintain our dignity as a team.”

Action represents R Ashwin:

Upton further took a shot at Ashwin, saying that the action ‘speak for him and represent him’. He, however, declined to criticise the Kings XI skipper, saying that the cricketing world would judge him.

“I think R Ashwin’s actions tonight speak for him and represent him. When I looked in the eyes of his teammates, I’m not sure it represented his teammates. We’ll leave it up to the IPL fans to decide if that’s the kind of thing they want to see, and we’ll leave it up to the cricket world to judge R Ashwin’s actions tonight. But for us, we certainly are here just to play cricket and entertain the fans and just be good role models for people who love the game,” said Upton.

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