“You came to the crease a bit late” - Ravichandran Ashwin discloses how he survived being timed out in the Nagpur Test against Australia 

Seasoned Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that he could have been timed out in the Nagpur Test against Australia but survived because the opposition did not appeal, perhaps unaware of the rule.

“Timed-out” has become a matter of big debate following Angelo Mathews’ controversial dismissal in that mode during the 2023 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. There have been plenty of arguments for and against the dismissal.

While discussing the topic on his YouTube channel, Ashwin recalled how he learned about the “timed-out” rule after deliberating delaying his walk to the crease as a nightwatchman during the Nagpur Test against Australia earlier in the year.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin revealed details of the incident.

“In the Nagpur Test against Australia, I went in as the nightwatchman in the first Test. I wanted to go slowly, so that would be the last over of the day and it would be stumps. But then, the umpire told me, “You came to the crease a bit late. Do you know that if they [Australia] have appealed, I would have given you out?” I was really shocked,” he said.

Coming into bat at No. 3 in the first innings, Ashwin scored a handy 23 before being trapped lbw by Todd Murphy.

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“They shouldn’t make it a matter of warfare between two nations” - Ashwin

Shifting focus back to the Mathews incident, Ashwin opined that neither the Sri Lankan batter nor Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was at fault. He stated that it was a simple case of one party knowing the rules and the other not knowing it.

“Mathews was really upset when he got out. Rightly so, I mean no one should get out like that, right? Everybody will feel bad when that happens. Not many teams will have that awareness to appeal for that. So, it looks like one is right and the other is wrong in this matter. But in this situation, both of them are right,” Ashwin commented.

“Both Shakib and Angelo are right here. One person knew what the rule was. The other person said that even though it was in the rule, he [Mathews] just asked if he [Shakib] could let it go since it was due to helmet malfunctioning. They shouldn’t make it a matter of warfare between two nations,” the 37-year-old concluded.

Following his timed-out dismissal against Bangladesh, Mathews rushed out to the middle in almost comical fashion during Sri Lanka’s match against New Zealand on Thursday in Bengaluru.