India’s premier spin bowler Ravichandran Aswhin has stirred the hornets’ nest by mentioning the return of erstwhile Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings to the competition after a two-year hiatus.

The Old Trafford faithful on Twitter were definitely not amused.

 

Munich tragedy was a disaster.

 

CSK were a bunch of match fixing frauds.

 

Stop being sadistic and equating the two incidents. https://t.co/gVQhLNGkIk

 

— Ashwin (@FergieFanboy) July 19, 2017

But is he actually guilty of what he’s being accused of?

The Times of India quoted the former No 1 ICC Test Bowler saying that the ‘two-year hiatus for CSK probably increases its value much like what it did for Manchester United when the air crash happened (in 1958 when eight of their players died).’

“I don’t know if it’s in the same league but surely people in Chennai and fans across the world are waiting for CSK to return. I hope it turns out to be a good comeback,” the report added, as Ashwin spoke ahead of the Tamil Nadu Premier League, which will have him representing the Dindigul Dragons outfit.

In case you didn’t know, in 1958, a flight carrying Manchester United players, staff, journalist and supporters crashed in Munich, where it had halted to refuel. The flight was returning after a European Cup match in Yugoslavia and no less than eight players, including the supremely talented Busy Babes, were killed in the tragedy.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings, beginning from the 2018 edition of the IPL, will return to the competition following a two-year suspension after corruption charges were proved right against them. 

Ashwin was one of the finds of the franchise that won two IPL titles and two CLT20 titles. In his 121 games for the side, Ashwin had picked up 120 wickets at an economy rate of just 6.66.

 

Guys please take the reporting with a pinch of salt with respect to the Munich tragedy and CSK. All I said was the break will make the ..

 

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2017

 

Fans turn up in numbers when the come back happens. Not required to blow it out of context.

 

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2017

 

Now all those who hate me, please get off my mentions, we will catch-up sometime later when I get misquoted again. Thanks🙏

 

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2017

Coming back to the controversy, the Indian cricketer might have tried to come clean by claiming to be ‘misquoted’ in a three-part clarification on Twitter, but it sure does not bode well on his part to compare a calamity of that magnitude to anything else.

 

Why don’t you just take responsibilty and apologize for your appalling mistake and let it end there.

 

— Pravir Singh (@Pravir21) July 19, 2017

That said some would like to agree that the spirit of the crowds coming out to support their respective teams in the aftermath of both the events could be somewhat similar.

Share your thoughts on this debate in the comments section below.