On England Great's 'Deliberate Ploy' Dig, Ravichandran Ashwin Gives Epic Response

India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin received a five-run penalty for running over the protected area of the pitch on Day 2 of the ongoing third Test against England. As a result, the visitors started their first innings on 5 for no loss. However, former England captain Alastair Cook questioned Ashwin's gamesmanship, saying that it was a "deliberate ploy" by Ashwin to gain an advantage during his bowling stint. "Is it deliberate? Yes, it is. 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," Cook had said on TNT Sports, the official broadcasters of the series in the UK.

"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?," he went on to add.

Ashwin, however, took full blame of the penalty and revealed that he wasn't aware of the fact that the Indian team had received warning for running on the pitch.

"They clearly warned some of our batters (on Thursday) for running on the pitch. I was aware of it, but my poor motor skills didn't allow me to get off the pitch in time," Ashwin said at the post-day press conference on Friday.

Ashwin also responded to Cook's allegations in the press conference, saying: "If the English media and players think it was on purpose, it wasn't. If that's how they want to treat it, so be it. I went to (on-field umpires) Joel (Wilson) and Kumar (Dharmasena) and said 'that's pure poor motor skills. If I was any better, I would have been in the Olympics. Why play cricket."

Ashwin made history by becoming the second Indian cricket team bowler ever to take 500 Test wickets but it was not the only