On Monday’s match, the spinner had restrained from 'mankading' Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Aaron Finch during RCB's chase of 197. Ashwin just stopped short of his run-up to warn RCB's Finch about stepping outside the crease a little too early. This particular moment came before the fourth delivery of the third over where the bowler held onto the ball and did not complete the delivery, instead he signalled the Australian batter at the non-striker's end that he could have gotten him out.
The spinner who mentions sarcasm and optimism as his forte in profile information in Twitter, has openly stated that he would not shy away from running out a batsman at the at the non-strikers' end in the tournament going ahead.
After the incident, Delhi Capitals' head coach Ricky Ponting gave a wry smile across his face in the bench.
Earlier in IPL season 2019, England batsman Buttler was 'mankaded' by Ashwin at a crucial moment during a match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.
This had obviously not gone down well with the cricketing fraternity and beyond, with former players lashing out at the Indian off-spinner for breaching the 'spirit of the game'.
Before the start of this year's IPL, Ponting had a chat with Ashwin over the issue of mankading -- something which the former Australian skipper doesn't approve.
In response, Ashwin offered an alternative for 'mankading' mode of dismissal and suggested the introduction of a "free ball" for bowlers if non-strikers back up too far.
"Make it a free ball for the bowler. If the batsman gets out of that ball, the batting team will be docked 5 runs. Free hit adds to the drama for a batter, let's give a chance to the bowlers too," Ashwin had tweeted.