Michael Vaughan amused at ICC not punishing Ashwin

Michael Vaughan became the latest victim of social media trolls. The former cricketer gave his opinion about the recent on-field altercation between James Anderson and Ravichandran Ashwin. Vaughan believed that the Indian off-spinner should have been punished or penalized for his actions on the last day of the Mumbai Test.

When James Anderson had walked into bat at number eleven on day 5, R Ashwin was seen exchanging a few words with the English bowler. Just when things started to look a little serious, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and umpire Marais Erasmus intervened and the game got back to the proceedings.

Apparently, Ashwin was unimpressed with the comments Anderson had made about Virat Kohli in the press conference a day before. Anderson had hinted that Virat can score only on Indian surfaces since there is no real bounce on offer from the tracks.

“I’m not sure he’s (Kohli) changed. I just think any technical deficiencies he’s got aren’t in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England – with a bit more movement,” Anderson had quoted.

“When that’s not there, he’s very much suited to playing in these conditions. He’s a very good player of spin – and if you’re not bang on the money and don’t take your chances, he’ll punish you,” he had added further.

No wonder why Ashwin stepped in to have a few words with Jimmy in the defence of his captain. India went on to win the match and inflicted an innings defeat on the visitors to take 3-0 lead in the series. Later, skipper Kohli defended Ashwin’s actions insisting that the spinner did not use any cuss words.

“For the first time I was trying to calm things down, especially when he (James Anderson) is involved. Ashwin was not pleased with whatever he (Anderson) said something in the press. Ashwin told me on the ground. I had no clue about it. I did not know what to make of it. I was laughing about it but Ashwin wasn’t too impressed. He (Ashwin) let him (Anderson) know, not using any bad words, honestly,” Kohli mentioned after the match.

Amidst all the action, it was English commentator Michael Vaughan who was furious and bemused about the proceedings. He took to Twitter to ask the ICC why Ashwin got away with his action. He cited the example of Ben Stokes, who was penalized for having a verbal exchange with Virat in the Mohali Test.

An absolutely bemused Michael Vaughan tweeted, “I don’t understand @ICC why @benstokes38 was done for dissent in Mohali but @ashwinravi99 gets away with it in Mumbai .. ??? Please explain.”

I don't understand @ICC why @benstokes38 was done for dissent in Mohali but @ashwinravi99 gets away with it in Mumbai .. ??? Please explain

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 13, 2016

Much to his surprise, he became a butt of all trolls with people flooding in with hilarious replies to his tweet.

@MichaelVaughan @ICC @benstokes38 @ashwinravi99 very similar to why England hosted the first three WC and we struggled to get it in 1996

— Ramakrishna Udupa (@itsme005) December 13, 2016

https://twitter.com/gautyou/status/808569564594192384

@MichaelVaughan @ICC @benstokes38 @ashwinravi99 have some burnol mate…. I know this hurts and it will increase come chennai

— Sayantan Bhattacharj (@gosourav) December 13, 2016