IPL 2020 | Ricky Ponting-Virat Kohli altercation is in heat of the moment, reveals Ravichandran Ashwin
Ponting-Kohli involved in an altercation
|IPL
Ravichandran Ashwin has stated that Ricky Ponting just replied back to Virat Kohli at the heat of the moment and there was no malice involved during the altercation. The Indian off-spinner has also revealed that he was truly ecstatic after dismissing Kohli for the first time in the IPL.
During the last fixture of the season between RCB and DC, Ravichandran Ashwin was seen in pain and instantly rushed off the field, leading to a halt in-game for a while. That didnāt make Virat Kohli a fan as he asked umpire Paschim PathakĀ the reason for the delay which then made Ponting irritated. No one quite knew the reason for the altercation back then but now Ashwin decided to spill the beans, on his show 'Hello Dubai Ah'.
āI had a back problem when I ran. It was a terrible pain. They took MRI scans and it was traced to a nerve pull to back. I went off after bowling. And you know Ricky, he wonāt leave any fight. And when RCB questioned, he said we arenāt like that etc. Heat of the moment,ā Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Incidentally, it was also the first time Ashwin has ever dismissed Kohli in the Indian Premier League, which naturally made him ecstatic as he celebrated the wicket with some valour, with the right-hander holing out to the deep fielder Marcus Stoinis. Ashwin said it was a matter of pride for him to get the great batsman out.
āI have always loved bowling to Virat. He would never take chances against me. Would not give his wicket; it was a matter of pride for him. MS Dhoni also, is like that. In Pune, 2016, I set him up with a ball outside off and it went really high and just as I was thinking, āAaha, Kohli wicket,ā Ankit Sharma let the ball slip through his hands at extra-cover! Ai! What have you done!ā, he said.
āFrom then on, people would keep saying Ashwin hasnāt taken a wicket of Kohliā¦ and so when I finally took his wicket now, it was a happy and a pleasing moment; a personal justification of sorts,ā he added.
