Ravichandran Ashwin ‘mankading’ Jos Buttler during the IPL clash between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab has sparked a huge debate. While many cricket fans and experts have lashed out at Ashwin for not upholding the ‘Spirit of the game’, others have supported the KXIP skipper for playing within the laws of the game.
Amidst plenty of hue and cry, it is worth mentioning here that it was not for the first time on Monday that Ashwin mankaded a batsman and the off-spinner had inflicted a similar kind of dismissal in an ODI game against Sri Lanka at the Gabba in 2012. However, captain Virender Sehwag after consultation with the batting legend Sachin Tendulkar had decided to withdraw the appeal back then.
Sri Lanka’s left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne was at the receiving end in that match.
Ashwin was denied the wicket then but on Monday he successfully mankaded Buttler, which later proved to be the turning point in the game as the English wicket-keeper batsman was looking in great touch and was dismissed after scoring 69 off 43 deliveries.
After Buttler’s dismissal, Royals’ batting line-up crumbled under pressure in the 185-run chase with KXIP winning the match by 14 runs.
Here’s the video:
Following the uproar over Ravi Ashwin's IPL 'Mankad', here's a look back at an incident from a 2012 ODI against Sri Lanka at the Gabba pic.twitter.com/IRR528s0ha
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 27, 2019
