Ashwin disagrees with Pant withdrawing Rathi appeal with dialogue around it might make the bowler feel “small”.
Ashwin disagrees and was not impressed when Rishabh Pant withdrew the appeal for run out at the non-strikers end.
“Digvesh Rathi is not my relative. He is not my friend. I don’t know who he is. But I am saying… You will scar a bowler so much that it will really affect him,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “But because nobody really cares about a bowler, so in front of crores of people, should we withdraw his appeal and insult him?”
Rathi removed the bails after noticing that Jitesh had vacated the crease at the non-striker’s end during the 17th over of the RCB chase.
The TV umpire decided that Rathi had finished his delivery stride before executing the run-out, even though the replays indicated that the hitter was outside his crease. Pant pulled back the appeal as it was happening, and Jitesh gave him a hug. The game was eventually won by RCB by a margin of six wickets.
Ashwin, who has been a vociferous fan of chasing out hitters at the non-striker’s end, said Pant should have backed his spinner
“Let me dive into the technicalities of this incident. Is Jitesh Sharma justified in being out if he stepped out of the crease before he (Rathi) got into the delivery stride? Yes, he is justified in being given out and the bowler is also well-justified,” Ashwin said. “Digvesh Rathi landed at the front foot and Jitesh Sharma was inside the crease. So, in all technical possibilities, this is not out. And what happened? After hitting the stump, (umpire) Michael Gough asked Digvesh Rathi. He didn’t ask him, ‘are you sure?” He asked him whether he was appealing.
“He (Rathi) said, ‘yes, I am appealing’. So, he (Gough) went to the third umpire and the third umpire took the right decision. He said, ‘he has crossed his delivery stride, the batsman is inside the crease, I have a decision, not out’.
“Now, till now, everything is fine. Bowler has hit, appealed, not out. It’s just another day in the office. But what happened? After this, during the match, (the) commentators said, ‘Rishabh Pant has withdrawn the appeal. What an amazing act of sportsmanship!’
“Come on, yaar. Let’s grow out of this. I am asking one question. Think about it, Digvesh Rathi is your son. Whoever is watching this video, he is your son, and Digvesh Rathi’s captain has criticised his decision in front of crores of people. It’s actually gone over the board because, look, a captain’s job is actually to back a player. Alright? A captain’s job is to not make a bowler feel small.”