Ravichandran Ashwin has had his say on the cheating scandal which erupted after Australia skipper Steve Smith admitted to making a ‘conscious’ decision to tamper with the ball during the third Test against South Africa.
Speaking to NDTV for a promotional event, the India off-spinner has said that the Australian players could have committed the grave offence in the ‘heat of the moment’.
“If the technology hadn’t gone so far, we might not be talking about it here. These things happen in the heat of the moment. It’s very difficult sitting at a distance and commenting on what might have unfolded and what might have happened in the dressing rooms,” Ashwin was quoted as saying.
The off-spinner went on to elaborate that modern technology was dictating the state of the game these days.
“It can happen and not trying to stand for it but the fact is entirely tech-driven and we have to be careful especially when you are in the public eye and you have the responsibility to carry out yourself in the utmost dignified manner. That is one of the disadvantages of the technology growing so much. But, I would say it is literally dictating play so much in terms of cricket and life,” he explained.
Cameron Bancroft was caught tampering with the ball on camera.
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya were present at the event too but refrained from giving their opinion on the matter.
“I don’t know if it’s relevant to me to comment on it. We are sitting so far away and I don’t know what must have happened,” Rohit said.
Smith was subsequently stood down as skipper for the third Test with Tim Paine being elevated to the captaincy while vice-captain David Warner was also asked to leave his role. Smith was then handed a one-Test ban by the ICC and fined 100 per cent of his match fees, ruling him out of the final Test.
Cricket Australia have opened their own investigation on the incident and a report is expected to be released soon with the governing body chief James Sutherland arriving in South Africa too.