'Ravi Ashwin probably' - Jos Buttler on the last person he would want to self-isolate with

Jos Buttler might have amassed 311 runs in eight matches last year in the Indian Premier League (IPL). But the Rajasthan Royals batsman was more in the news for his mankading dismissal during the game against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) thanks to their then skipper Ravi Ashwin. While there was a lot of furore about his dismissal then, both the cricketers now look back at the incident and have a laugh about it.

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus, all the cricketers, like the rest of the world, have been forced to spend their time at home. ‘Stay safe, stay home’ is the most used phrase at the moment across the world in order to break the transmission of the Coronavirus pandemic. And the social media gimmicks have found a way to link it with cricket as well.

A meme has gone viral on social media showing Ravi Ashwin mankading Jos Buttler while he is out of his crease depicting the current situation. It shows, if you get out of your home, Coronavirus will run you out. And the hilarious has reached the England international as well. Ashwin himself had recently shared the picture on his Twitter handle stating that he liked the concept.

I keep getting tweeted about it, says Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler, somehow, isn’t able to forget the unfortunate dismissal and the Coronavirus has made sure that the bad memory stays fresh in his mind. In a podcast with Sky Sports, the 29-year-old funnily picked Ravi Ashwin as the last person he would want to self-isolate with for the same reason.

“Ravi Ashwin probably. It’s actually a year ago since I got mankaded because I keep getting tweeted about it, saying “stay safe, don’t go outside” with those pictures of me,” Buttler said. Meanwhile, he is also waiting eagerly for the IPL to begin this season. The tournament has been deferred until April 15 but with India going under lockdown until the same date, speculations are rife over the cash-rich league will even happen this year.

Jos Buttler though is hopeful that a shortened version of the IPL to go ahead at least. “Obviously, it’s such a massive tournament for world cricket, so hopefully some of it can go ahead – perhaps a shortened tournament,” he further added.