Ravichandran Ashwin has got Javagal Srinath on his side in the Mankading debate.

Srinath, who celebrated his 51st birthday on Monday, is not only a former India pacer of repute, but also a current ICC match referee.

“The bowler is focusing on the batsman. For the batsman (at the non-striker’s end) to stick to his crease till the ball is released is no big deal, because he’s not batting, nor is he thinking of anything else,” Srinath said, appearing on Ashwin’s Youtube show ‘DRS With Ash’.

“So the batsman (at the non-striker’s end) shouldn’t leave the crease. If the batsman is taking undue advantage, and if he’s involved in a run out, I am fine. I am perfectly okay with that,” Srinath added.

Ashwin had stirred up a hornet’s nest when he ran out non-striker Jos Buttler, who had backed up too far, during last year’s IPL. The debate was re-ignited this year again when Ricky Ponting, Ashwin’s coach at Delhi Capitals, said that he would like to have a “hard talk” with the Indian spinner on the issue.

Srinath was blunt in his opinion and said that there was no need to bring up the “spirit of the game” point while discussing such dismissals.

“Don’t look for any empathy. Don’t invoke the spirit of the game. The spirit of the game is with the runner. He cannot move out of the crease. If he is doing it, he’s not invoking the spirit of the game itself. I would believe that the batsman should stick to the crease.

“It cannot be that he’s gaining four to five feet advantage every ball. In T20, every ball matters. How many games go to the last ball?” Srinath questioned.

It will be interesting to see if there’s “hard talk”, or any talk, after this.