On Monday evening, in their opening game of the season, Kings XI Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs. But an incident at a crucial junction of the match led to a bit of controversy.
Chasing a target of 185 runs, Rajasthan Royals openers Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler started strong. On the last ball of 13th over, Kings XI Punjab skipper Ashwin noticed that wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler backing up at the non-striker’s end. He took the bails off once Buttler had left the crease and eventually Butler was given out by the third umpire.
The incident attracted a lot of criticism, but some supported Ashwin’s action as it was within the Laws of Cricket.
‘Mankading’ got its name from an Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad. He represented the Indian team from 1946 to 1959.
During India’s tour of Australia in December 1947, Mankad ran-out Australian batsman Bill Brown in the same fashion. The Australian media was not happy about this incident and accused Mankad of un-sportsmanship and unfair play. After this incident, any batsman dismissed in a similar way is said to be ‘Mankaded’.
The cricket legend, Sir Don Bradman defended Mankad’s action in his autobiography saying, “For the life of me, I can’t understand why questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage“.
That Buttler Mankad… Did Ashwin do the right thing? 🤔#IPL2019
— ICC (@ICC) March 25, 2019
Though it is perfectly legal as per the ‘Laws of Cricket’, but most sportsmen consider it not within the spirit of the game.
