Hardnosed Ashwin switches to damage control
There was no better way for the Indian team to put the controversy involving Virat Kohli behind than having R Ashwin front up to the media ahead of their game against the West Indies at the WACA ground.
An incident involving Kohli, who had a tiff with a senior journalist, has dominated print space in India but Ashwin's presence in the media conference meant the questions focused more on his bowling and less on the events that have transpired over the last two days. But as has been the practice, India sent out the Man of the Match from their previous match, R Ashwin, for the pre-match press conference. Ashwin, in his matter-of-fact way, diffused the situation.
"Honestly, I do not know what's happened," was his response to a question on the incident on the eve of the match. "It's definitely not in my jurisdiction. I do not know what's happened. I'm very honest about it."
Ashwin, who has often been seen doing damage control on the field when opposition batsmen have run riot, was curt with his responses, much to the media's disappointment, who were in anticipation of something more. He, however, did have a decidedly different view on how the situation could have been handled as opposed to how it has now taken precedence over India's defence of their World Cup title.
"Media here are here to support us," he said. "It's very heartening to see the media turn up in such huge numbers and try to support us. But this is my take on it. I think the media has a responsible way of taking cricket back home in a responsible fashion, taking cricket to the public in the way it needs to be taken. There are times when I'm not happy with that, but that's my opinion. But there are other times when you support the players and it's very important to take the game forward."
Ashwin's assessment of the situation indicated that India's players haven't been too bothered by the distractions of the last two days, and that there would be more of the same on Friday when they take on the West Indies. Without saying much, Ashwin indicated the general stand taken by most teams with respect to the relationship they maintain with their country's media, and the lack of communication in India only aids the situation.
The chance presence of Ashwin coinciding with the incident that occurred two days ago turned out to work well in the team's favour and their premier offspinner pulled them out of yet another tricky situation.
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