Ravichandran Ashwin on the New Year’s Eve engaged in a “banter” with Rajasthan Royals (RR), an IPL (Indian Premier League) franchise. The banter began when the Rajasthan Royals took a dig at Ashwin for its infamous “Mankad” dismissal in the 2019 IPL, however, RR are not the ones who gets the credit, the credit of sparking the banter goes to a fan who shared a picture on Twitter which consisted small box containing cricket balls with “Mankad” written on each of them, captioning the post “My gift to Ashwin this Christmas”.
My gift to Ashwin this Christmas pic.twitter.com/nQvSiG5FoF
— Yash Rane (@yashozilrane) December 31, 2019
Also Read: IPL 2020 Auction And Complete Squad List For IPL
In last year’s IPL, Rajasthan Royals were at the receiving end of Ashwin’s “Mankad” dismissal, and wasted no time and tweeted “No points for guessing who is adding this to their cart for #IPL2020” taking a dig at the Right Arm Off Break bowler.
No points for guessing who is adding this to their cart for #IPL2020 https://t.co/66sYUMosUp
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) December 31, 2019
Ashwin was quick to notice and responded with the banter with some maturity, proving with his witty reply that nobody should try to pull his leg both on field and off field, Ashwin replied saying “Might well be a good collection for the non strikers who meander along. Good banter nevertheless, wish you all a happy 2020”.
Might well be a good collection for the non strikers who meander along ????. Good banter nevertheless ☺️ wish you all a happy 2020. ? https://t.co/fqD9WOCHTL
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) December 31, 2019
In last year’s IPL (2019), Ashwin played for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), and dismissed Jos Buttler at the non striker’s end in “Mankad” style, when Buttler was trying to cover some ground even before Ashwin completed the delivery.
That particular dismissal incident caused a lot of stir, so much so, that both cricket fans and pundits were divided on the stance. Some of them were against Ashwin’s conduct, questioning his sportsmanship, while there were others who said what he did was not wrong and completely under the rules and regulations of the ICC (International Cricket Council).
In spite of being at the receiving end of the criticism for that incident, the Tamil Nadu cricketer made it clear of what to be expected from him in IPL 2020, last week during a Q&A session on Twitter, one of his fans asked him: “Who are the potential batsmen you can Mankad this IPL?” to which he replied “Anyone that goes out of the crease”.
Anyone that goes out of the crease. ✅
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) December 30, 2019
Ashwin led KXIP in 2018’s and 2019’s IPL, and in IPL 2020 will play for Delhi Capitals as he was traded in the IPL 2020 Auction help in Kolkata in December.
