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Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting stirred up the age-old debate around “spirit of cricket” after stating that he would not allow Ravichandran Ashwin to ‘mankad’ anyone under his tenure.
To the unversed, it all started when Ashwin dismissed Joss Buttler at the non-striker’s end during a match between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2019.
While the act indeed generated a lot of fury among cricketing fandom, Ashwin remains unflustered and openly advocates bowlers to ‘mankad’ if the opportunity arises.
The off-spinner was traded to the Delhi-based franchise last year.
Ashwin recently did a video conference with Ponting, and the two of them shared words on ‘mankading’.
“Yeah, I totally get where you are coming from. I wasn’t trying to say that you were [not] justified because it is actually in the laws of the game. You can do it. So if a batsman is cheating, and trying to steal a couple of yards,” Ponting said to Ashwin in a video uploaded on the latter’s YouTube channel.
“I just think that we have got to find a way around. Trying to stop the batsman cheating. We have had this conversation already. I don’t want to see anyone running two or three yards down the wicket. Because that basically is cheating,” the former Aussie skipper added.
‘There should be run penalty’
Ponting further suggested that imposing run-penalty would be the best way to stop the non-striker from stealing extra yards.
“I think there should be some sort of a run penalty. If you are to get to the top of your bowling action and stop, and it shows that the batsman is cheating and is out of his crease, I think put a run penalty on them. And do it right from the start, because that will stop him right away. Imagine taking 10 runs off a team total because you have taken yards… those sorts of things need to be looked at,” Ponting concluded.
The 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starts from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
