Team India senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has come up with a valuable proposal to introduce a new rule in cricket that will provide assistance to the bowlers in the current era, which is quite well dominated by the batsmen.
Ashwin has suggested a unique way to punish batters who leave the non-strikers’ crease before the bowler releases the ball. The Tamil Nadu spinner, who did a Mankad to Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Jos Buttler during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game in 2019, said all this while replying to former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on social media.
Manjrekar had shared his column and urged cricket fans to let him know what rule (s) should change or modify in order to make a better viewing experience.
“Hi guys, tell me what you think about some aspects of the game mentioned in this column that have me peeved a little bit. Also let me know what rule changes you would make to better your viewing experience. Will retweet the interesting ones,” Manjrekar had tweeted.
Taking cognizance of Manjrekar’s tweet, Ashwin reckoned that since ‘free hit’ is pretty popular among cricket fans, a ‘free ball’ for the bowlers should be included in the cricket rules whenever a batsman leaves the crease early. He added that a wicket of that ball should reduce 10 runs off the bowlers’ analysis and total.
“Come on @sanjaymanjrekar ,free hit is a great marketing tool and has captured the imagination of all the fans. Let’s add a free ball for the bowlers every time a batter leaves the non strikers end early, a wicket of that ball will reduce 10 runs of the bowlers analysis and total,” tweeted Ashwin.
Come on @sanjaymanjrekar ,free hit is a great marketing tool and has captured the imagination of all the fans.
Let’s add a free ball for the bowlers every time a batter leaves the non strikers end early, a wicket of that ball will reduce 10 runs of the bowlers analysis and total https://t.co/XdwrhHECnv— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) May 28, 2021
Recently, the ‘Mankad’ debate resurfaced in the now-postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 as well. During a game between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a picture went viral and triggered the ‘Mankad’ debate.
In the pic, RR pacer Mustafizur Rahman had overstepped, and the third-umpire gave it a no-ball, but Dwayne Bravo was also seen outside the crease at the non-strikers’ end even before the ball was delivered.
Former India, speedster Venkatesh Prasad, had reacted to the incident saying bowlers get penalized for overstepping, but batters don’t. Bowler has every right to run a batter out, and terming it against the ‘spirit of the game’ is a joke.
“The bowler overstepping by a few inches is penalized, but a batsman backing up a few yards isn’t. The bowler has every right to run out a batsman backing up so far. PERIOD. Calling it against the spirit of the game is a joke,” Prasad had written on Twitter.
The bowler overstepping by a few inches is penalised, but a batsman backing up a few yards isn’t.
The bowler has every right to run out a batsman backing up so far. PERIOD.Calling it against the spirit of the game is a joke @ICC .#CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/vIHqbe6fWU
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) April 20, 2021
