Ashwin's reply to Gibbs's joke puts him in a 'fix'

What could have been a friendly banter between two cricketers on Twitter, ended up leaving a sour taste in one's mouth, thanks to a below-the-belt remark from one of them.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is known to shut up trolls with his quick wit, overstepped the line while responding to a taunt by former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs.

The 31-year-old bowler posted a video on Twitter promoting a shoe brand, commenting about its innovative features. The former South African swashbuckling batsman took a jibe at him, saying that the new shoes might help him run faster—an obvious reference to Ashwin's less-than-athletic performance on the field.

However, the joke did not go down well with Ashwin, who took a dig at Gibbs's involvement in the infamous match-fixing saga in 2000 during the tour to India, which also involved former Proteas skipper Hansie Cronje. Gibbs was banned temporarily when the scandal broke. He had skipped tours to India to avoid being questioned by the Delhi Police, but played for the Deccan Chargers in Indian Premier League 2008.

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Seeing that the Indian bowler did not take the joke in its spirit, Gibbs chose to bow out with dignity.

Ashwin, too, tried to douse the fire by calling his response a “joke”, and also pulled down his tweet. But the Twitterati did not find his response funny, with many users criticising him for his lack of sportsman spirit. Others chose to focus on the irony of the matter, since Ashwin used to play for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, which was banned for two years after their official Gurunath Meiyyappan was accused of betting.