Putting the onus on the non-striker to ensure the sanctity of the laws is maintained, former India pacer and ICC match referee, Javagal Srinath, said leaving the crease before the ball is delivered is an act of stealing a run and if the bowler then reprimands such intent by running out the player there is nothing against the spirit of cricket.
Speaking to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in an episode of 'DRS with Ash' over YouTube, Srinath said the non-striker should be under the scanner rather than the bowler crucified in what is controversially termed 'Mankading' dismissal.
"It has gone through a lot of tests - Mankading," said Srinath. "Putting the entire responsibility on the umpire, captain or the bowler was one way of looking at it. Whether it was fair or not was the question. But if you go deeper into the rules of the game, it is very clear that you are not supposed to leave the crease."
"If anything of that sort used to happen, even if it was inadvertent, and if it happens at the last ball of the match and there is a run out (opportunity) and he's in by an inch, the result becomes unfair and one of the teams will pay for it."
It has been stressed time and time again that there is a genuine need to detach the stigma around this form of dismissal, understanding that each run stolen at the non-striker's end can make all the difference in actual game scenarios.
"I would like to see a balance here," said Srinath. "I would want the batsmen to stay, be more careful, look into the arm of the bowler and after the ball is released, go. You cannot have the batsmen gaining 4-5 feet advantage every ball. And in T20, every ball matters. How many games go to the last ball."
"I'm for one thing, the bowler is focusing on the batsman (striker). For the non-striker to stick to his crease till the ball is released is no big deal, because he is not batting or thinking of anything else."
"So non-striker shouldn't leave the crease, the bowler should focus on his bowling and the batsman he's going to bowl to. If the non-striker is taking an undue advantage, I'm fine and perfectly okay with a run-out. The rules have been said and reiterated many times," added Srinath, who turned 51 on Monday (August 31).
"It's not just T20 but in every format of the game, the onus is on the non-striker to stick to the crease. That's the best way to look into it, don't look for any empathy, don't invoke spirit of cricket."
"Spirit of the game is with the runner, if he's moving out early, he is not (within) the spirit of the game. I would believe that the non-striker should stick to the crease," he concluded.
