India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has yet again brought back the memories of his ‘Mankading’ incident from the last Indian Premier League (IPL) season during an IPL 2020 clash between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday (5 October).
Ashwin had a great opportunity to 'Mankad' RCB batsman Aaron Finch in the 19th match of the ongoing IPL 2020 but the DC spinner took the advice of his head coach Ricky Ponting and warned the Australian skipper – which has now become the hot topic among the fans and cricket experts.
Well, some support the controversial method of dismissing the non-striker, others feel that it’s against the sportsmanship of the gentleman’s game, but former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said it is under the law but he has a problem with the terminology.
On-air during the RCB v DC IPL 13 match, Gavaskar said “Ashwin had tried to ‘Brown’ Finch”.
Notably, Bill Brown was the first player to be run out by Vinoo Mankad for leaving his crease way back in 1947 and since then the method has been called ‘Mankading’. However, the legendary Gavaskar questioned the term as he believes that the batsman is at fault and not the bowler, the dismissal should be named on the batsman Brown, not the former Indian all-rounder.
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Gavaskar told Indian Express: “Vinoo Mankad is a legend of Indian cricket, one of the great all-rounders who has won matches for India. And you use his name for, what is looked at by the cricketing world, as unsportsmanlike behavior – that’s not acceptable to me.”
He further added, “I don’t want an Indian legend’s name to be disparaged. It baffles me why so many in the Indian media keep using that word as if they don’t have any respect for any Indian legends. As Indians, we should be the last to encourage such usage. That’s why yesterday on television, I said Ashwin tried to Brown him. Because Bill Brown was at fault in 1947 and not Vinoo Mankad.”
The former captain said the Australians should learn about ‘Mankading’ while questing Finch for taking undue advantage by saying: “the first thing that struck me when I saw that was when will the Aussies learn? Because it happened to Bill Brown in 1947 and we are in 2020; they still haven’t learnt. The simple thing is you have to look at the bowler and move out when he releases it. You can’t look at the batsman like Finch was doing and walk out of the crease. The law is clear. It’s as simple as that.”
He further said of the law, “They have fielding restrictions that stipulate a minimum number of players within the 30-yard circle and if someone stands just a foot outside, then that’s ruled a no-ball. If someone gets out that ball, it’s not out. I have no issues with it, as that’s the rule. Why is it okay if a batsman does it at the non-striker’s end? In today’s time, thanks to technology, a batsman is run out even if it’s just millimeters and we fuss so much with endless replays to rule it out. It’s because of the mythical spirit of cricket, applied arbitrarily. Aaron Finch was almost a yard or yard-and-a-half down before Ashwin had released the ball. Just imagine the advantage the non-striker has.”
On being asked whether a warning could be given to the non-striker, Gavaskar signed off by saying, “Does the batsmen warn the bowler that he is going to hit him for a six? Or does a bowler warn that he is going to bowl a bouncer or a googly? Why should the batsman be warned? As a captain, I would leave it to the bowler. It’s his call. I will support my bowler 100 percent.”
