'Rishabh Pant should not have run' - Sunil Gavaskar feels Ravi Ashwin should not be blamed for 'attempted run' controversy

The ‘attempted run’ controversy in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals (DC) on 28th September 2021 has hogged the limelight in IPL Phase 2. Ravichandran Ashwin attempted a second run after a throw from a KKR fielder hit Rishabh Pant.

This led to a war of words between Tim Southee and Ravichandran Ashwin, as well as an argument between KKR skipper Eoin Morgan and the Delhi spinner. And now, Sunil Gavaskar has offered his thoughts on the matter.

Gavaskar feels that Rishabh Pant should have refused to take the extra run, as the ball had hit him. The former Indian captain added that Pant might have taken the extra run in the ‘heat’ of the moment.

“What nobody asked is, why did Pant run? He was the one who was struck by the ball and if at all anybody should have known that the tradition is not to take the run after the ball is deflected, then it was the Delhi skipper. Maybe, in the heat of the battle and the anxiety to add runs to the team’s total, he took that extra run,” wrote Sunil Gavaskar for the Mid-Day.

Rishabh Pant should have stepped in: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further opined that Ravichandran Ashwin should not be blamed, and may not have seen the ball hitting Rishabh Pant at the non-striker’s end. Adding that Rishabh Pant should have defused the entire situation, Gavaskar concluded by stating that it is tough to keep a cool head in hot and humid conditions.

“But why blame Ashwin? He may not have even seen the ball hitting his skipper as he would be intent on getting to his end and may have only seen the ball that was away from a fielder and so responded for the extra run.

Pant could have stepped in and defused the situation, but in the intensity of the battle and especially in the hot and humid desert atmosphere, it is extremely tough to keep a cool head, so he may have not realised what had happened,” concluded Sunil Gavaskar.