R Ashwin defends his ‘Mankad’ of Jos Buttler during RR vs KXIP match in IPL 2019: ‘What's there to be ashamed of?'

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin made headlines for the wrong reasons during IPL 2019, when he was playing for Kings XI Punjab (Now called Punjab Kings).

While he did enjoy a decent IPL with 15 wickets from 14 matches, one major moment during KXIP's match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) changed the complexion of the game.

During a match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur, Ashwin "mankaded" (ran out) Buttler at the bowlers' end after the latter stepped out of the crease before the ball was released.

The umpire eventually declared the England batter out, and the incident sparked a huge debate with regards to the spirit of cricket. Buttler was batting on 69 runs from 42 balls, and his controversial dismissal proved to be costly, as RR lost the match by 14 runs, as they failed to chase down a target of 185.

"A lot of people talk about character, say this is wrong, or that the player is wrong. After hearing all that, I felt like doing it even more, not to prove a point to people. There was a moment when I was captain against Mumbai, and they needed two runs," Ashwin said on JioStar.

"I was at extra cover and told the bowler to run the batter out at the non-striker's end. The batter ran, but the bowler refused because people say it's wrong. If the ICC felt this was an honesty problem, they wouldn't keep it in the rules," he added.

"If you need two runs off one ball and you start running early, whose fault is it? People say Jos Buttler didn't try to run, but that's not my problem. People also say I did it to win. Of course, I did it to win. What is there to be ashamed of? After I ran him out, I called the team and said, 'This will look different to them, they will lose, don't worry about the reaction, I will handle the media, we just have to win.' And we won. So, there is no issue of character in this," explained the 39-year-old.

Ashwin encouraged other bowlers to inflict this kind of dismissal, and admitted that they refrain from doing so because of the fear of criticism that they could receive.

"Other bowlers should also do it. Why don't they? Because of the first thought that comes to mind: 'What will people say?' It has become a kind of societal pressure, whether it is right or wrong. This started with umpires asking captains if they want to withdraw the appeal. If you withdraw, you are seen as 'good', which is also wrong, because you let your bowler down in front of everyone.

"This decision should belong to the bowler, and giving it out or not is the umpire's job. Why make a rule so complex? Like LBW, this is also out. Many cricketers tweeted that this is bad. My answer is simple: I didn't steal, I didn't do anything wrong, I played within the laws. Those who talk like this-I could file a case against them in court. What they are doing is character assassination. I am very proud of it, I will continue to be, and whoever does it, I will praise them even more," he elaborated.