Former India spinner R Aswhin has reflected on Australian bowler Nathan Lyon’s comments where he stated that he felt “absolutely filthy” on being dropped in the second Ashes Test in a public interview. Ashwin went on to say that the Indian players won’t be able to talk with this kind of freedom and even if they do, there will be collateral damage.
“Nathan Lyon is lucky that he is from a team who won’t change their emotions. He got a medium to express, and he did. But he won’t be considered wrong and he’ll still be considered for the next Test match,” Ashwin said, speaking on his Hindi YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.
“People have emotions, and they will do just that. However, I cannot express my emotions, because if I do, I will lose out, and only my harm will be caused. So why will I do that? However, I really respect Nathan Lyon; he let his emotions out. Good on him,” he added.
Ashwin added that if an Indian cricketer speaks up, he will “stamped” as a person of a certain character.
“We, as Indian cricketers, are allowed to express our opinion. No one is stopping us. But what is collateral damage? Your expression and emotion are not given as much respect because you will be stamped as a person of a certain character for doing that. I hope this will change with the passage of time, and it should,” he said.
Ashwin provided an example to explain his point, stating that India opener Abhishek Sharma would not be able to declare himself the ‘Universe Boss’ quite as freely as Chris Gayle could.
“Let’s take Chris Gayle as an example. He announced himself as the ‘Universe Boss’. We all accepted it, didn’t we?” said Ashwin.
“Suppose tomorrow, Abhishek Sharma comes to the press conference, wears a chain around his neck and says ‘Universe Boss is here, man’, will we accept him? Why not? Because there is a conditioning in our brains that we don’t like to credit someone else. I hope that changes.
“We accept others, but we don’t accept our own,” Ashwin further stated.
“There is collateral damage. What is collateral damage? It’s when your expression is not given the respect it deserves. You will be stamped as a person of a certain character. But I’m guessing that will change over time. I’m hoping it will change and it should,” he added.
Australia took a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series after defeating England in the Pink-Ball Test by 8 wickets. Pacer Mitchell Starc starred with the ball in the first innings picking up 6 wickets while Michael Neser scalped his maiden fifer in the second innings.
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