On Wednesday, former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been on the receiving end of several attacks since the 2019 IPL run-out incident with Jos Buttler, came to Digvesh Rathi's defense as he blasted Rishabh Pant, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants. In the IPL 2025 face-off in Lucknow on Tuesday, Ashwin supported Rathi during his humiliation following his failed attempt to run out Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma at the non-striker's end.

The incident occurred during RCB's chase of 228, on the last delivery of the 17th over. The wicketkeeper-batter had previously been refused a dismissal by Rathi because of a backfoot no-ball, which was followed by a six off the free hit. Rathi made an attempt to run Jitesh out at the non-striker's end as he appeared flawless and RCB needed 29 runs from the final 19 balls. With Jitesh outside the crease, he paused before bowling the final ball of the over and whipped off the bails.

The third umpire, though, was not persuaded, as stated in section 38.3.1 of the IPL 2025 Playing Conditions. Ashwin concurred with the decision in his YouTube video, but he was still furious by what had occurred after the game's outcome was shown on television.

Pant, the captain of LSG, was seen on film retracting the appeal. The commentators praised his action, which was deemed to be "showing sportsmanship," even though it had no bearing on the outcome. Ashwin not only slammed the commentators for their remark but also accused Pant of "humiliating" Rathi in front of the audience and leaving him "scarred."

The India legend said as he examined the incident: "As the owner of LSG, I would be thinking that I need Jitesh Sharma's wicket. He is out if he has moved outside the crease. I'd like to get into the technicalities of what occurred. Did he have cause to leave if he did so before Digvesh Rathi began his delivery stride? Yes. Would it be detrimental to RCB? Yes, once more, since doing so would have made them dislike Pant and Rathi. The actual circumstances are now worth considering. Jitesh was within the crease when Rathi put his front foot down. Therefore, this was not outside. Umpire Michael Gough questioned him about whether he was appealing after he broke the stumps, rather than if he was sure. The third umpire made the proper ruling after he answered, "Yes, I'm appealing."

Everything was OK up until now. But then, in an incredible display of sportsmanship, commentators began to claim that Pant had pulled the appeal. Outgrow this. Pant is a superb cricketer. He will undoubtedly have a successful career in cricket because he just hit an amazing century. Just to see how he will bat and assist India in winning the England series, I'm already excited for it. I really like Pant. I'm making it clear once more before someone tries to target me. However, imagine being the father of Rathi and having his captain publicly criticize him in front of millions of people. Indeed, he went over the board. The captain's responsibility is to support the bowler, not to diminish himself.

Quit bashing Digvesh Rathi

The season following the Buttler incident, Ashwin then disclosed his chat in the Delhi Capitals locker room with Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer, where he had accepted the conditions of not running out a batter at the non-striker's end after the Aussie had cleared the air before the start of the competition.

Following my incident with Buttler the year after that, I joined the Delhi Capitals team, where I spoke with Shreyas Iyer prior to the match between Delhi and Punjab. Will you keep your word now that we won't run anyone out in the non-striker's end? Iyer questioned me. I responded, "No." Ricky Ponting then informed me, "We will not run out anybody in the non-striker's end and we want you to follow it," to which I agreed. I will obey that rule if it exists, he said.

"We're not sure if there was a conversation with Rathi here, but stop this denigration of the young man in front of millions of people. Do we treat anyone else that way? Why must a bowler appear tiny? It's really embarrassing. And he won't ever do this again. He was scarred by it."

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