Mankading row: Ashwin, not Buttler, tried to gain unfair advantage, says David Gower

Former England captain David Gower believes Ravichandran Ashwin will, in time, regret his act of Mankading Jos Buttler in the Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals on Monday.

Kings XI skipper Ashwin created the biggest cricket controversy in recent months when he decided to run out English batsmen Buttler for backing up too far at the non-striker’s as he ran in to bowl.

Observers of the game have been divided ever since, with people backing Ashwin as well as deriding him for dismissing Buttler in such a manner.

In Kolkata for the Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture, Gower told The Telegraph in an interview that Ashwin’s actions were avoidable.

“Personally, I think Ashwin will regret what he has done,” he said. “I do understand that the law allows it, but if you take that to the extreme, you can run out an entire team in the space of 10 balls. What cricket would that be?”

Gower reckons that it would have been courteous of Ashwin to give Buttler a warning before running him out.

The 61-year-old, who played 117 Tests and 114 ODIs for England from 1978 to ‘92, also believes that his compatriot Buttler wasn’t trying to gain any undue advantage. He, in fact, thinks it was Ashwin to who was trying to do so.

“Buttler wasn’t putting an extra effort to get the run. Had he been trying to take unfair advantage, he would have been two metres down... If anyone tried to do so, it was actually Ashwin. He stopped before delivering,” he said.

Gower, though, doesn’t see Ashwin’s reputation getting damaged because of this incident.

“That would be absolutely wrong. Ashwin is an exceptionally fine cricketer,” he said. “If he doesn’t change his mind publicly, so be it. It won’t damage his reputation as people have done worse things. My overall respect for him is there, but a bit of it has been lost.”