Former England captain Kevin Pietersen – who is currently in the UAE as part of commentary panel for the ongoing 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, has voiced his opinion on the latest ‘Mankading’ drama unfolded during the 19th match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Dubai earlier this week.
The Mankading controversy was revived again in the ongoing IPL 2020 after it grabbed a lot of controversy and attention in the last season when the spinner while playing for Kings XI Punjab 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler during an IPL 2019 fixture with many criticizing the veteran cricketer for the move.
However, this season too, Ashwin had the opportunity to run out Aaron Finch but he decided to warn the RCB batsman first, but insisted if he feels batsmen are stealing ground at the non-striker’s end, he will not again issue the warning to the batsmen in the ongoing T20 League.
Ashwin’s this move was appreciated by many cricket experts and former cricketers and the latest one is Pietersen who even backed the off-spinner over his use of the 'Mankad' dismissal by saying the batsmen need to “wind their neck in and play by the rules”.
Notably, the former England batsman earlier was against the use of the form of dismissal, but now admitted his opinion has changed over the past year and agrees with the veteran off-spinner regarding ‘Mankading’.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s podcast Following On, Pietersen said: “You’ve got 10-year-olds thinking about the Mankad. Apparently it’s in the manuals now to be taught and to be allowed. ‘It was frowned upon when we played and it wasn’t the thing to do.”
He further added, “(But) when you see how far down the wicket Aaron Finch was… he was almost stealing two metres before Ashwin bowled the ball. I think what Ravi Ashwin did was perfect. Finch, get back in your crease, don’t steal runs.”
Pietersen also pointed out that the game has become very competitive with very fine margins nowadays and people win and lose contracts on the basis of results since there is a lot of money involved, so batsmen on the non-striking end must wind their necks and adhere to the rules.
He further went on to explain, “These games are coming down to fine margins, really fine margins. There’s a lot of money involved and people are getting and losing contracts based on results. [Batsmen] need to wind their neck in and play by the rules. Watching Ravi Ashwin, 12 months ago I would have said, “come on mate, no no no”.”
Pietersen signed off by saying, “But having thought about it over the last 12 months, it was absolutely perfect what Ashwin did. I’m all for the fact that he warned the guy and made everyone very aware that he’s been warned, and it he does it again, then he has to go I’m afraid.”
