IPL 2021: Jason Gillespie counters Shane Warne, lends support to Ravi Ashwin

Former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie has come out in support of Ravichandran Ashwin over his latest action in the IPL that has caused uproar and reignited the debate around the 'spirit of cricket'. Gillespie slammed Australian spin legend, Shane Warne, for criticising Ashwin and said that nobody has the right to call out a player when he plays well within the laws of the game. Taking to Twitter, Gillespie wrote, "I believe players have every right to play within the laws of the game as set out by the MCC." Gillespie has now deleted the tweet. 

Shane Warne was one of the first persons to criticise Ashwin on the matter as he took to Twitter to call the act "disgraceful". Warne further said that Eoin Morgan was right in calling out Ashwin after the incident. Disagreeing with Warne, Gillespie said on Twitter, "The ‘spirit of cricket’, and what constitutes this, differs from country to country, and in some cases, between states/counties/provinces/islands. The laws of the game are in place. Stick to them, and the grey areas within our game are removed."

When asked about his disagreement with Warne on the issue, Gillespie said that neither he nor the former Australian spinner cares about whether they agree or disagree on certain things, adding, "We've always got along great and will continue to do so."

As far as the Ashwin-Morgan controversy is concerned, both cricketers were involved in a heated argument during their previous IPL encounter in Sharjah, which occurred after the England skipper said a few words to Ashwin when the latter chose to take a single despite the throw hitting his partner's pads at the other end of the crease. Morgan thought what Ashwin did was against the spirit of the game, hence, he decided to take it up with the man himself, which resulted in the altercation.

What Ashwin said about his altercation?

Ashwin, on Thursday, shared a long Twitter thread, where he clarified that the single he had taken after an overthrow deflected off Rishabh Pant's pads, was unintentional, saying that he had decided to take the run even before the KKR fielder had thrown the ball towards the stumps. Ashwin also added, "Do not confuse them by telling them that you will be termed a good person if you refuse the run or warn the non-striker, because all these people who are terming you good or bad have already made a living or they are doing what it takes to be successful elsewhere."

(Image: ShaneWarne/Insta/@IM_RD007/Twitter)