The mode of dismissal that has been talked about extensively in world cricket lately is the ‘Mankad.’ Ravichandran Ashwin took the cricketing world by the storm when he decided to dislodge the bails of Jos Buttler in the last edition of IPL.
In the recent U19 World Cup in South Africa, one of the Afghani bowlers dismissed Mohammad Huraira with ‘Mankad,’ thus sparking off the old debate yet again.
During the Australian Cricket Awards ceremony, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was asked about which batsman he would like to Mankad.
Hazlewood had no hesitation in naming India’s No. 3 in Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, as the batter he would like to ‘Mankad.”I reckon I’ll save that one for the next time … at Pujara,’ replied Hazlewood when asked at the awards night.
🗣 "I hope I don't find myself in that situation." – Meg Lanning
🗣 "I reckon I'll save that one for the next time … at Pujara." – Josh Hazlewood@gradecricketer chats with the Aussies about the Mankad 😅 pic.twitter.com/8pSpWSU8a6
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 19, 2020
This comes as no surprise for Indian cricket fanatics as Pujara was responsible for blunting the incisive Australian bowling attack last year Down Under.
The likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins had no answer for the Saurashtra batsman who amassed 512 runs in the series alone, averaging a whopping 72.
Pujara treated spectators with a couple of scorching tons at Adelaide and Sydney, under testing conditions. India tours Australia again in 2020-2021 for a four-match Test series, one of them being a Day-Night encounter.
