Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on August 27 (Sunday) penned a lengthy post on the contentious act of bowlers running out batters at the non-striker's end. The veteran Indian cricketer highlighted that 'all hell will break loose' and the bowler's character would be tarnished publicly if he attempted the run out during a crucial juncture of the upcoming ODI World Cup. Ashwin even cited the example of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Joe Root and said that if a bowler runs those batters out at non-striker's end then it might turn into a massive controversy.
"Imagine someone running out kohli, Rohit , Smith , Root or any crucial batter at the non strikers in the World Cup semi final or a crunch game which will decide qualification," Ashwin replied on a tweet on X (former known as Twitter.
"I am sure hell will break loose and there will be a character assassination campaign by some experts who still don’t agree with it and of course fans that are on the receiving end," he added.
Furthermore, Ashwin said that the only solution to avoid such a situation is by making sure batters remain inside the crease at the bowler's end when the bowler gets into his act of delivering the ball. The Indian cricketer also said that it doesn't matter during which time of the game a bowler is trying to attempt a run out, a batter should stay inside the crease be it the opening ball of the match of the last delivery of the game.
"There is only one solution, whoever be the batter and whatever be the magnitude of the situation, the batter needs to watch the bowler load the ball up and rotate his shoulder before taking off and if he doesn’t do that and gets out, we should applaud the bowler and tell the batsmen that he can do better," Ashwin continued.
"He dint complete his action at all and he should look for it in the 5th 6th over arguments are lame” cos once the bowler loads up and gets ready to deliver, he can’t run the batter out cos it’s incorrect according to the law," he added.
Ashwin further added that currently not a lot of teams are actually trying to run out batters at the non-striker's end but during the World Cup, things might be different as teams would look to capitalise on any given opportunity to gain an advantage.
"At the moment not all teams are doing it but come the World Cup, I really hope everyone is ready for it cos taking a moral high stand and saying we won’t do it, should open a strategic window for the other teams and genuinely teams should take every single advantage coming their way cos winning a World Cup is a lifetime achievement," said Ashwin
"Finally, is winning everything?
"Its everything for some and not for many others, we need to accept both, cos we are all different.
"Stay inside the crease and live in peace," he concluded.
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