Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
While opinions are clearly divided over the Ravichandran Ashwin- Eoin Morgan controversy, in a completely different take, former India opener Virender Sehwag has held Dinesh Karthik responsible for all that has unfolded. Notably, Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee had exchanged a few words with R Ashwin during the match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Their mid-field argument was based on an extra run that Ashwin had taken when a fielder threw the ball at the non-strikers' end and it rolled off Delhi Capitals' captain Rishabh Pant's arm. While Eoin Morgan, the Kolkata skipper, wasn't quite pleased with the gesture, Ashwin was well within the rules of the sport to complete that run.
Post the match, however, Dinesh Karthik, who had tried to resolve the matter on the field by coming in between an animated Morgan and Ashwin, said that the English skipper wasn’t too pleased with the fact that Ashwin wanted a run after the ball had hit Pant.
Highlighting this particular incident, Sehwag said that what happened on the ground should have stayed on the ground and Karthik should not have made Morgan's dislike of Ashwin's gesture known publicly.
What was the need for an explanation that someone thinks this or that: Sehwag
"I consider Dinesh Karthik the biggest culprit in all this. If he had not talked about what Morgan said, there would have been no such uproar. If he had said, 'It was nothing much, just an argument, it happens in the game, move on,' then it would have come out in that sense only. What was the need for an explanation that someone thinks this or that?", Sehwag said on Cricbuzz Live.
"What happens inside should remain inside. If more things from the inside start coming out, I can guarantee every match will have something like this that will cause an uproar. The spirit of the game also says that players should leave what happens inside the ground as is and move on," he added.
Talking about Delhi and Kolkata in IPL 2021, while Delhi have almost guaranteed themselves a place in the final four, Kolkata still have some work to do to make it to the Playoffs. Morgan & Co. would be up against Punjab Kings later on Friday.