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Why Kartik's wife 'ran away' from game

May 26, 2021 17:54 IST

Murali Kartik

IMAGE: Shweta and Murali Kartik. Photograph: Kind courtesy Murali Kartik/Instagram
 

Murali Kartik revealed that his wife Shweta 'ran away' from the ground at Hove after he was booed for Mankading while playing county cricket for Surrey against his former team Somerset in 2012.

The retired left-arm spinner, speaking to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, recalled after he Mankaded Alex Barrow, the crowd was so angry that they tried to enter the dressing room.

Ashwin had Mankaded Jos Buttler during an IPL game in 2019, causing an uproar in the cricketing community.

'My wife ran away from the ground. It was that kind of a threat with the crowd booing and all. They almost entered the dressing room,' Kartik told Ashwin on the latter's show DRS with Ash.

Kartik, who represented India in 8 Tests, 39 ODIs and 1 T20I, was a regular in English county cricket for many years and played for Lancashire, Middlesex, Somerset and Surrey.

Kartik recalled he had warned Barrow thrice before running him out for backing up.

'They never spoke about that. Despite the warning, they are blaming the bowler,' Kartik said. 'I am ready to run out all 11 batsmen if they step out before I deliver the ball.'

Murali Kartik

IMAGE: Murali Kartik, left, with Ravichandran Ashwin.

'I had done it (Mankading) five times before, but it became a controversy because I did it against Somerset, a club for which I had played for three years,' he said.

'Somerset was already upset that I went to Surrey. They had so many accusations against me -- that my wife liked city life and that's why I went to London, they must be paying him more, etc. Somerset was my previous team, which is why it became so huge.'

'I think Sri Lanka and England were playing at that time. Michael Holding, Nasser Hussain and Bumble (David Lloyd) were all asked whether what Murali Kartik did was correct or wrong. All of them said, Murali Kartik was correct, the batsman was at fault,' he added.

Kartik recalled how he took to social media to defend Ashwin when the latter Mankaded Buttler.

'I took on everyone on Twitter and asked them, "How can you joke by blaming it on the bowler?"'

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