Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who has had his fair share of experience of being targeted after that run-out incident in IPL 2019 involving Jos Buttler, jumped to Digvesh Rathi‘s defence as he tore into Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant on Wednesday. Ashwin backed Rathi amid his humiliation after his failed attempt to run out Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma at the non-striker’s end in the IPL 2025 face-off in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The incident happened on the final ball of the 17th over, during RCB’s chase of 228. Rathi had already been denied a dismissal of the wicketkeeper-batter earlier in the over, owing to a backfoot no-ball, which was followed by a six off the free hit. With RCB needing 29 off the last 19 balls, and Jitesh looking impeccable, Rathi attempted to run him out at the non-striker’s end. On the last ball of the over, he stopped before delivering it and whipped off the bails, with Jitesh outside the crease.
However, according to section 38.3.1 of the IPL 2025 Playing Conditions, the third umpire was not convinced. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin agreed with the call but was left fuming at what had followed after the verdict was displayed on the screen during the match.
The camera caught LSG skipper Pant withdrawing the appeal. Although the act made no difference to the decision, the commentators went ga-ga over his gesture, which was deemed ‘showing sportsmanship.’ Ashwin not only lashed out at the commentators for their statement but also fumed at Pant for “humiliating” Rathi in front of all the spectators and leaving him “scarred.”
Analysing the incident, the India legend said: “As an owner of LSG, I will be thinking that I need Jitesh Sharma’s wicket. If he has stepped outside the crease, he is out. Now let me dive into the technicality of the incident. Is he justified in being out if he stepped outside the crease before Digvesh Rathi got into the delivery stride? Yes. Would it be bad for RCB? Yes, again, because they would not have liked Rathi or Pant if they did that. Now let’s look into the real-case scenario. When Rathi landed his front foot, Jitesh was inside the crease. So, this was not out. After breaking the stumps, umpire Michael Gough asked him whether he was appealing, and not whether he was sure. He said, ‘Yes, I’m appealing. ‘ So the decision went to the third umpire, and the right decision was made.
“Until now, everything was right. But after that, commentators started saying that Pant has withdrawn the appeal – what an amazing act of sportsmanship. Grow out of this. Pant is a fantastic cricketer. He scored a stunning century, and I know he will go on to do great things in cricket. I am already looking forward to the England series just to see how he will bat and help India win. I am a big fan of Pant. I’m clarifying it yet again before being targeted by people. But think, you are the father of Rathi, and his captain, in front of crores of people, criticised him. He actually went over the board. A captain’s job is to back the bowler and not make himself feel small.”
‘Stop vilifying Digvesh Rathi’
Ashwin then revealed his conversation with Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting in the Delhi Capitals dressing room the season after the Buttler incident, saying that he had agreed to the terms of not running out a batter at the non-striker’s end after the Aussie had set the record straight before the start of the tournament.
“The next year, after that incident between me and Buttler, I reached the Delhi Capitals team, and there, I had a word with Shreyas Iyer before the Delhi-Punjab game. Iyer asked me, ‘We will not run anybody out in the non-striker’s end, so will you hold your end of the bargain?’ I said, ‘No.’ Then Ricky Ponting told me, ‘We will not run out anybody in the non-striker’s end and we want you to follow it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ If that is a rule, then I will follow it,” he recalled.
“Here, we don’t know if there was a conversation with Rathi. But stop this vilification of the youngster in front of crores of people. Do we do that to any other people? Why does a bowler have to look small? It’s actually a humiliation. And what will happen is that he will never do this again. It scarred him.”
