Picture Credit: Twitter
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag never shies away from speaking his mind, especially when he has to talk about anything that is related to cricket in any sense. Like his batting on the cricket pitch during his heydays, the cricket veteran fearlessly comments whatever he feels about a particular issue or debate without thinking of how the ones opposite to his idea or perception would react.
Apart form calling a spade a spade, Sehwag, many a time, could also be found taking dig at either cricket players or at situations from the game. This attitude of Sehwag has earned him some critics, but meanwhile, has also increased his fan following across social media platforms. The recent player to come under the radar of Sehwag is England's white-ball skipper and Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Eoin Morgan.
It is worth noting that in the 41st match of the Indian Premier League 2021 where KKR and Delhi Capitals locked horns, Eoin Morgan got involved in a verbal altercation with DC's all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. This happened after a throw hit Rishabh Pant’s arm and got deflected during DC's batting. Sensing that there was an opportunity, Pant and his companion at the crease, Ashwin, stole an extra run.
It definitely did not go down well with the KKR team as its player Tim Southee uttered a few words to Ashwin after dismissing him. Ashwin too reacted on that with full energy before the altercation could further see Eoin Morgan entering the scene to take on the DC spinner. Dinesh Karthik, who calmed everyone during the spat, later revealed that Morgan is not among those who like these kind of game play. "I don’t think Morgan appreciates that. I think he’s somebody who, when the ball hits the batsman or the bat, he expects them not to run in the spirit of cricket,” Karthik said after the match.
Pointing out Dinesh Karthik's comment, Sehwag lashed out at Morgan reminding him of what happened in the final of 2019 ODI World Cup.
"On July 14th , 2019 when it ricocheted of Ben Stokes bat in the final over, Mr Morgan sat on a Dharna outside Lord’s and refused to hold the World cup trophy and New Zealand won. Haina ? Bade aaye, ‘doesn’t appreciate’ waale ? (sic)," wrote Sehwag on Twitter.
Notably, in the last over of the 2019 final between between England and New Zealand, a throw hit running batsman Ben Stokes' bat and ricocheted towards the boundary line. As per the rules of cricket, England were awarded those extra four runs which played a huge role in deciding the fate of the game. Interestingly, none of the English players, including captain Morgan, decided against it and the simply pocketed those runs.