Alastair Cook makes interesting claim on ‘Gamesmanship’ of Ravichandran Ashwin that resulted in 5 penalty runs for India

India was handed a penalty of five runs in the third Test against England. The two of their batters stepped into the danger zone and became responsible for the penalty runs. While Ravindra Jadeja was the first one to commit the mistake, it was repeated by his fellow teammate Ravichandran Ashwin. As a result of which, England started their innings with 5/0. 

As per the rules, a team can get a maximum of one warning before getting the penalty. As Ravindra Jadeja stepped into the danger zone, there was no warning left for Ashwin who was the 2nd batter to commit a mistake. In the process, India was fined with five crucial runs. The fans were surprised by the penalty, in the event of which Alastair Cook spoke about the incident. 

The former England batter claimed it was a tactical ploy from Ashwin to step into the danger zone. Cook believed that Ashwin deliberately stepped onto the pitch to get help from the wicket. “It’s a tactical ploy that you can disturb the middle of the wicket because Ashwin wants as much help [as possible] when he can bowl,” claimed the former England batter while speaking about the incident. 

‘That was gamesmanship there, wasn’t it?’ – Alastair Cook

India’s score was 362/7 when the incident happened. The former opener felt that some of the players usually indulge in such things during the 3rd innings of a Test match. Cook claimed that when the teams are about 150-200 runs ahead in the game, they tend to have such an advantage. While Alastair spoke about the incident, he regarded it as good gamesmanship from the Indian cricketer.  

“Normally, it happens in the third innings. You’re 150-200 runs ahead and you think, ‘Just make sure you get up and down the wicket’… that was gamesmanship there, wasn’t it?” Added Cook in his statement. Meanwhile, Ashwin became one of the fewest bowlers to claim 500 or more wickets in Tests. As the right-arm off-spinner got the big wicket of Zack Crawley, he became just the 2nd Indian to reach the milestone.