Ashwin reacts to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's physical contact with Sri Lankan player, calls the situation "understandable"

Former Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has spoken on the incident which took place in the final overs of India A's clash against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla on Monday, June 15.

A Super Over decided the fate of the tied affair, following prolonged discussions between both captains and the on-field umpires. Ugly scenes followed as India lost, with teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi seen pushing a Sri Lankan player, which was followed by a heated exchange. The Super Over also saw a controversial no-ball call, which led to a significant heated protest from the visiting captain Tilak Varma.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ashwin stated that the frustration shown by the India A side was understandable, highlighting that the no-ball call, given on height, was debatable and that, with light being a concern, the delay from the Lankan side before coming into bat in the Super Over was a point worth taking a note of.

The two teams took on each other in their second meeting of the ongoing Tri-Nation series. Batting first, the Indians were bundled out for 265 in 49.2 overs, with a rescue act from Suryansh Shedge and Vipraj Nigam. In response, Sri Lanka got on with their chase in dominant fashion, but India pulled things back to tie the game.

India A made a stellar recovery from 143 for 7, with Shedge and Vipraj posting a 104-run stand to take them to 265. What looked like a smooth chase for Sri Lanka A was dented by stellar bowling in the back end of the innings, with Arshad Khan dismissing the well-set Sadeera Samarawickrama for 93. India A kept picking up key wickets to take the game to a tie.