"What he did was well within the rules" - Gautam Gambhir on R Ashwin's row with Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has thrown his weight behind Delhi Capitals' Ravichandran Ashwin regarding his heated argument with Kolkata Knight Riders' Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee at Sharjah. The verbal war took place after Ashwin was dismissed by Southee.

Eoin Morgan was unimpressed about an earlier incident where Ashwin sprinted for a run after the ball hit his batting partner Rishabh Pant and deflected. It triggered an intense reaction from Southee and the KKR skipper, to which Ashwin also reverted strongly. However, the whole episode saw the Indian spinner's actions being branded as 'unsportsmanlike'.

Gautam Gambhir, though, slammed Ashwin's critics, claiming he did nothing wrong. He feels that the former cricketers condemning Ashwin have done so to be in the limelight as their comments hardly make sense. Gambhir said on Star Sports:

"I back Ravichandran Ashwin 100 percent. What he did was well within the rules. He has done nothing wrong. And there are so many people who are jumping into it, they have got nothing to do with it. Probably to increase some social media followers or to have some presence somewhere so that people can talk about it. It makes no sense. R Ashwin is absolutely correct."

While Morgan later downplayed the altercation, Shane Warne did not mince his words. The former Australian legend labeled the incident 'disgraceful' and questioned why Ashwin keeps getting himself in such a position and took Morgan's side in the episode.

Also Check: IPL Live Score | IPL Points Table | IPL Schedule

Ravichandran Ashwin hits back at his critics

Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, the 34-year-old off-spinner opined that he did nothing wrong by standing up for himself. Ashwin started by revealing he wasn't aware of the ball hitting Pant and added that he would have run even if he had known.

Finally, the veteran cricketer remarked he believes in being competitive on the field by putting his heart and soul into the game and playing by the rules. Ashwin also said that he thinks respecting the opposition is a must.