Delhi Capitals (DC) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made it clear that there will be no more warnings for batsmen backing up outside the crease in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
During the 19th match of IPL 2020 on Monday (October 5) in Dubai, Ashwin stopped mid-way through his run-up as he realized that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opener Aaron Finch stepped too far outside the crease at the non-striker's end.
However, Ashwin, who could have knocked off the bails to ‘Mankad’ Finch out, decided against it.
WATCH: R Ashwin almost mankads Aaron Finch; DC coach Ponting smiles
After the game which DC won by 59 runs, Ashwin took to Twitter and wrote: "Let’s make it clear! First and final warning for 2020. I am making it official and don’t blame me later on. Ricky Ponting #runout #nonstriker."
He then quipped, "Aaron Finch and I are good buddies btw [by the way]."
Notably, Ashwin's act of running out Rajasthan Royals' (RR) Jos Buttler for backing up too far as captain of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in IPL 2019 had triggered a massive uproar and polarised opinions.
While many came out in support of the off-spinner as Mankading is part of the laws, some cited the spirit of the game to crucify the move.
Ahead of the IPL 2020, Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, who has been quite vocal against this form of dismissal, had said that he will have a "hard conversation" with Ashwin regarding the use of 'Mankading'.
“I’ll be having a chat with him about [mankad], that’s the first thing I’ll do,” Ponting had said on 'The Grade Cricketer Podcast'. "Obviously, he wasn’t in our squad last year, he’s one of our players that we tried to afford to bring in this year."
"Look, he’s a terrific bowler, and he’s done a great job in the IPL for a long period of time now, but I must admit watching that last season, as soon as it happened and he did that, I actually sat our boys down and said ‘Look, I know he’s done it, there’ll be others around the tournament who’ll think about doing this well but that’s not going to be the way that we play our cricket. We won’t be doing that’."
“So, that’s going to be a conversation and that’s going to be a hard conversation I will have to have with him, but I’m pretty sure he’ll take it on the chin. I think, even him, looking back now, probably he’d say it was within the rules and he’s right to do it, but this is not within the spirit of the game, not in the way I want, at least with the Delhi Capitals anyway," he added.
Delhi Capitals will face Rajasthan Royals in their next match on October 9 at Sharjah.
