'Glad to Know That You Are Doing Fine': R Ashwin On Miscommunication Regarding Heath Streak's Death

Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin issued an apology to former Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak after miscommunication about the false news of his death. On Wednesday,  Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams and former fast bowler Henry Olonga posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Streak’s demise which turned out to be fake news as they also paid tributes. Soon the news spread like wildfire with several current and former cricketers offering condolences.

Ashwin also paid his tributes to Streak but he later deleted the post.

The veteran spinner, on Thursday, posted another note and issued the apology.

“I saw Henry Olonga’s tweet and mourned it too. It came from a place of utter disbelief and sadness,” he wrote.

“Deleted that tweet but glad to know that you are doing fine. @HeathStreak3 Take care and apologies for the inaccurate tweet from my side,” he added.

Meanwhile, Streak on Wednesday expressed his disappointment at the development, asking people to be careful before ‘spreading such rumours’.

“People should be a bit more careful before spreading such rumours. I am better now and recovering from cancer,” Streak was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Streak is suffering from colon and liver cancer (Stage 4) but says he’s doing better now.

“I am at home and obviously there’s still a bit of strain because of the treatment. But otherwise I am fine. Suddenly I get to know that people have started talking about my death, as someone shared it on social media. But that was not all correct. I am recovering and feeling a lot better…,” he said.

He is the only Zimbabwean to take 100 or more wickets in Test cricket, finishing his career with 216 scalps at 28.14. He also served as captain between 2000 and 2004.

In 2021, he was received an eight-year ban from all cricket after being found guilty of breaching ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Streak accepted five charges while denying he was ever involved in match-fixing.

“I also want to place on record to the public and fans that I was not involved in any match fixing, spot fixing or attempts to influence a game or share information from a changeroom during a match at any given time in our relationship. This position has been confirmed by the ICC itself in its own statement,” Streak had said in a statement following the ICC verdict.