'We have to put ourselves in that situation' - Ashwin on Arshdeep trolled for dropped catch vs PAK

Arshdeep Singh dropped a dolly catch against Pakistan during the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022. While it resulted in India's loss, he was heavily trolled on social media. R Ashwin feels fans should put themselves in his shoes.

India failed to progress into the final of the 2022 Asia Cup. It lost a couple of matches during the Super 4 stage of the tournament, including a game against arch-rival Pakistan. In the closing stages of the Pakistan chase, pacer Arshdeep Singh dropped a dolly catch of Asif Ali, which resulted in India losing the contest. Consequently, the 23-year-old lad from Punjab was subject to brutal trolling on social media, with some even labelling him as an anti-national. Meanwhile, veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin came out to support his former Punjab Kings (PBKS) teammate and stated that fans should put themselves in his shoes.

Ashwin spoke on his YouTube channel, "Sometimes, we need to put ourselves in the same situation as a common person, be it someone working in the IT industry or a factory. We tweet something out of emotion as soon as he drops a catch, and we start scolding him. It is simply an expression of our emotions."

"If we are in Arshdeep's shoes and dropped that catch, what would we expect? We will expect compassion from the fans, like 'It's Ok. Well done. It was a great effort. Take the next catch'. That is what all expect. If it happened to be a kid, an elderly individual from our house, our spouse, or our brother/sister, we would expect that only," added Ashwin.

Ashwin heaped further praise on Arshedeep, saying, "I have followed him from the U-17 and U-19 days, besides having played with him for PBKS. He is an extraordinary somebody. He is a cricketer who possesses a magnificent job ethic. I am sure he will travel the world [with Team India]. There is no doubt about it."