The debate surrounding the controversial ‘Mankading’ way of dismissal is getting heated after Delhi Capital’s (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting opined that he will not allow R Ashwin to mankad any batsmen when he is playing for DC. Ashwin moved to DC from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Ashwin had riled up the cricketing fraternity big time after he mankaded Jos Buttler during a KXIP-RR match in IPL 2019, which led to a division in opinions as many opposed the mode of dismissal calling it against the spirit of sportsmanship; while the other half supported mankading, asking the non-striker to stay inside the crease until the ball is delivered.
Adding to this debate, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Dinesh Karthik said that as mankading has gotten the approval of the ICC and the MCC and from Bradman to Gavaskar have had no problems with it, there is no reason for any team to see it in a negative way.
He took to Twitter sharing his statement and then asked a few other experts and former cricketers for their views in a tweet. He tagged the likes of Harsha Bhogle, Rohan Gavaskar, R Ashwin, Sanjay Manjrekar, Brendon McCullum, and a few more asking for their views on the same.
“A lot of people have polarising opinions on this, this is just my 2 cents on this issue. Would like a few cricket nerds to give their thoughts on this too @bhogleharsha @rohangava9 @ashwinravi99 @cricketaakash @sanjaymanjrekar @Bazmccullum @VenkyMysore @s_badrinath @RK_sports,” Karthik tweeted.
To this, R Ashwin suggested giving the bowlers some edge over the batsman. He said like how a free hit is given to the batsman if a bowler bowls a no-ball, a ‘free ball’ should be given to the bowler if the non-striker batsman moves out of his crease before the ball is delivered.
If the striker gets out on the said ball, five runs are deducted from the batting team’s total.
Ashwin replied, “Make it a free ball for the bowler. If the batsmen get out of that ball, the batting team will be docked 5 runs. Free hit adds to the drama for a batter, let’s give a chance to the bowlers too. As of now, everyone watches the game hoping that ‘the bowlers will get smacked today’”
