Sri Lanka stoked Ishant Sharma ire
Ashwin says Lankans wanted to have a go at the pacer
By : c. santhosh kumar
Update: 2015-09-10 02:47 GMT
Chennai: A barrage of criticism levelled against Ishant Sharma for his on-field behaviour has been so intense that it has taken the sheen away from India’s historic series victory in Sri Lanka. As more and more former cricketers join the chorus against the fast bowler, ace India off-spinner R. Ashwin has thrown his weight behind his beleaguered teammate. In an interview with this newspaper on Wednesday, Ashwin said people shouldn’t forget Ishant’s contribution in winning the series.
It was the Sri Lankans who wanted to have a go at Ishant, according to the off-spinner. “I thought Ishant was giving it to them with his bowling and it was their job to give it back when he was batting. Instead, when Ishant came out to bat they came charging towards him. That wasn’t fair. Dhammika Prasad and Ishant had an issue but others, too, joined. Probably they were disappointed with him. I didn’t quite endorse it, so I wanted to ensure that they were out of Ishant’s way,” said Ashwin who played the role of a peacemaker on a couple of occasions when the hosts had run-ins with Ishant.
“When Kushal Perera got out in the final innings, he stood there to have a word. I told him to just get out of the ground. There was no point in building it up. It was very clear that Sri Lanka wanted to make an issue out of it. At the end of the day people viewing it peruse it the way they want. All I can see is that they wanted to make it a point that the Indians were aggressive,” added Ashwin.
A few critics also blamed skipper Virat Kohli for “encouraging Ishant’s behaviour”. But Ashwin said it was “unfair.” “It’s not that someone tells you during the team meeting to be aggressive and shout at people. It hasn’t happened like that. I can vouch for that. There is freedom of expression that is definitely inculcated into the team right now. It’s just that all players are being themselves.
Serving a ban is a lesson and he might learn from that. But I don’t think people should change from being themselves on the field. You have to remain within the limit. Otherwise, I don’t see a big issue with what had happened there,” he said.
Apart from winning the man of the series award for taking 21 wickets in the three-match series, Ashwin in a way spoiled Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell by taking his wicket on all four occasions. The tall spinner said Sanga’s wicket in his last innings was really special to him.