"If that’s how they want to treat it, so be it" - Ravichandran Ashwin hits back at Sir Alastair Cook for allegations of deliberate running on pitch

Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hit back at former England captain Sir Alastair Cook's allegations of him deliberately running on the protected area of the pitch in an eventful Day 2 of the third India-England Test on Thursday.

The incident transpired at the early stages of the day with debutant Dhruv Jurel and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin at the crease. The latter played a full delivery from Rehan Ahmed to the cover region and set off for a single before returning his end after the debutant sent him back.

The umpire, Joel Wilson, had a word with Ashwin before penalizing India with five runs, meaning England started their innings at 5/0.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Cook felt 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. 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?" said Cook.

After the Day's play, Ashwin responded to Cook's allegations in the press conference by saying:

"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. 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."

Team India had already received a warning for the same on Day 1, with Ravindra Jadeja being the culprit then.

Meanwhile, Ashwin completed the historic 500-wicket landmark in Tests later in the day, becoming only the ninth bowler and second Indian to achieve the feat.

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Ravichandran Ashwin has withdrawn from the ongoing third Test due to a family medical emergency

In a shocking turn of events, Ravichandran Ashwin withdrew from the remainder of the third Test against England due to a family medical emergency.

The unforeseen situation puts India in a pickle as they will have to do with only 10 players for the rest of the game except on the field, where a substitute will be allowed. The BCCI issued a lengthy statement supporting Ashwin and his family while requesting privacy to be maintained.

Meanwhile, the third Test is delicately poised, with England going strong at 207/2 in reply to India's first-innings total of 445.