Ravichandran Ashwin, the veteran spinner of Rajasthan Royals (RR), has given his verdict on Harshal Patel’s attempt to run out Ravi Bishnoi at the non-striker’s end during the thrilling match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday.
Notably, the game between the two sides went down to the wire where the Challengers lost the fixture on the final ball at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Harshal, who bowled the final over of LSG’s chase, was caught up in a controversial moment. The incident happened when LSG required just one run off the final ball to win the match.
Harshal initiated his typical run-up, but he quickly halted when he observed that Bishnoi was departing from the non-striker’s crease prematurely. It seemed as though the right-arm pacer intended to run out the non-striker, but he changed his mind at the very last moment to alert the batter before ultimately throwing the ball towards the stumps.
Harshal was required to re-bowl the final delivery because a bowler is not permitted to throw after completing the action in the same delivery. The cricket community seemed to have mixed views on the incident, but seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been involved in similar situations before, shared his opinion. He expressed satisfaction that a bowler had attempted the run-out and conveyed his hope that more bowlers would make similar attempts in the future.
“One ball, one to win. The non-striker is always going to run. I will stop every time and run a batsman out. I don’t see what the problem is. I was just watching the game and telling my wife he should run him out. And he did it. I was so glad and happy that a bowler had the courage to do it, and I wish more bowlers do it,” said Ashwin, as quoted by News18.
