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Jimmy Neesham joins 'Spirit of the Game' debate, sides with Eoin Morgan

The cricket fraternity seems to be divided over the Eoin Morgan - Ravi Ashwin ‘Spirit of the Game’ saga.

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Sam Abraham
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James Neesham - Ravi Ashwin

James Neesham - Ravi Ashwin ( Image Credit: Twitter)

The cricket fraternity seems to be divided over the Eoin Morgan - Ravi Ashwin ‘Spirit of the Game’ saga. Ashwin tried to steal a run of a delivery that ricocheted of Rishabh Pant's body which many feel was against the ‘Spirit of the Game’.

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Morgan, Tim Southee and Ashwin also got into a heated argument when Morgan said something to the ace spinner over the same. Several experts have opined on the matter but most of them seems to be siding with Morgan. Earlier, Shane Warne called Ashwin’s act as a disgrace and said that Morgan had every right to nail down the spinner and now, the England ODI skipper has got the backing of New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham as well. Responding to a fan who asked who’ll he support between Ashwin and Morgan, Neesham was quick to take the name of Morgan.

When asked why he didn’t react when England was given six runs when the ball had ricocheted of Ben Stokes' bat in the World Cup final, Neesham said runs were awarded as the ball crossed the boundary, Stokes didn’t try to run on the throw.

“Because they’re runs if the ball crosses the boundary. But the etiquette of the game is that you don’t run if you’ve caused the deflection. It’s just one of that unspoken spirit of the game things,” said Neesham while answering over Ben Stokes’ 2019 WC saga.

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Earlier in the day, Ashwin also tried to shed light on his side of the story. The spinner in a series of tweets said he has been taught to take a stand for himself and he did exactly the same when Morgan called him a disgrace. He also said he don’t need any moral teaching lessons from Morgan or anyone, adding the definition of the Spirit of the Game is different for him.

“In Morgan or Southee’s world of cricket they can choose and stick to what they believe is right or wrong but do not have the right to take a moral high ground and use words that are derogatory,” Ashwin wrote.

“Give your heart and soul on the field and play within the rules of the game and shake your hands once the game is over. The above is the only ‘spirit of the game’ I understand,” he wrote.

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