Ravichandran Ashwin says bowlers are ‘oppressed’ post non-striker run out incident in U19 World Cup
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has lashed out at the traditionalists of the game of cricket who have come out and stigmatised the use of the non-striker run out. The logic of the purists is that the non-striker run-out should not be used at all and that it is not a fair form of dismissal. He came to Adam Zampa’s defence after the latter had executed it in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The the-36-year-old went after David Hussey after he said that he would have called back the non-striker if he was given out by the umpire. Ashwin had run out Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end in 2019 when he was playing for the Punjab franchise in a match against the Rajasthan franchise. The debate took steam when Deepti Sharma ran out Charlotte Dean in the same fashion at Lords in an ODI.
Bowlers planning to get a player out legally is the worst thing – Venkatesh Prasad
“First of all, why should you withdraw the appeal? A bowler is running the non-striker out. The captain will say that the bowler is wrong or what? What a big insult that is to the bowler if the captain is withdrawing the appeal.” He gave a counter to Hussey. He also said that he was exhausted in his repeated attempts to prove that the non-striker run out is a legal mode of dismissal.
He said that the bowlers get unfair treatment and that the batters exercise undue advantage in this aspect. Former India fast-bowler Venkatesh Prasad and former Australian batter Mark Waugh had a heated debate when Waugh raised objections to the mode of dismissal. Prasad had taken an inference from a T20 World Cup match in Rwanda when a U-19 player from Pakistan had executed a non-striker run out.
Waugh said, “The worst thing is it seems that teams are using it as a deliberate planned way to get a wicket.” To which Prasad countered “Yes right, Bowlers planning to get a player out by legal means is the worst thing. Batsmen wanting to take unfair advantage by not staying back in the crease is the best thing.” The Cricket Governing Body changed the status of the dismissal last year.
