Former cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin strongly condemned those who target Indian players with abuse during poor performances. His remarks followed Day 4 of the ongoing Test match between India and England in Manchester.
Ashwin said the coach and players get “cooked” and “roasted” when the team underperforms. He also defended debutant Anshul Kamboj, who was slammed for his lack of pace, highlighting that England’s Chris Woakes bowled at similar speeds but escaped criticism due to his earlier success in taking wickets.
“When Indian cricket team doesn’t play well we will abuse everyone, we ‘cook’ and ‘roast’ everyone, including the coach, captain. All this is easy to do. I was reading about Anshul Kamboj’s speeds, how can he bowl so slow, it won’t work and all that.”
“Today there was a partnership going on between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. Chris Woakes was bowling 123-127. But in his first spell he got two wickets so no one said anything. This is cricket. There is a lot of speed here that is getting lost after pitching. So we should talk about what is going on,” he said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat‘. (7:19)
Ashwin Defends Jaiswal’s Early Exit, Highlights Opener’s Responsibility
In the second innings, India suffered a setback by losing two wickets without scoring, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was out for a duck. Ravichandran Ashwin suggested that fatigue from long hours in the field may have played a role but emphasized that as an opener, one must be ready to bat anytime.
“The ball to Jaiswal was a full ball but during the impact point, his bat was too behind the pad. The same ball that he got out to, if he wasn’t tired, if he wasn’t circumspect, he would have gone forward and hit that ball for a boundary.”
“A typical problem for an opener, when you are opening the batting for your country, you will never know when the declaration will come or when batters will get out, you have to be ready,” he reflected. (11:39)
Despite an early collapse, India staged a strong recovery as KL Rahul and Shubman Gill put together an unbroken 174-run partnership for the third wicket. The visitors closed Day 4 at 174 for 2, positioning themselves well to push for a draw on the final day.
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