Ace India spinner R Ashwin has shared his thoughts on the run out at the non-striker’s end which came into the limelight once again when Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi ran out Shadab Khan during the second ODI between the two sides recently.
Ashwin had ruffled a few feathers when in IPL 2019, he had run out Jos Buttler in a similar fashion and received huge backlash. Something similar happened last year when India’s Deepti Sharma ran out England’s Charlie Dean in a Women’s ODI at Lord’s to win India the match.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has also dropped in clarifications on several occasions and also made amendments to the laws, terming it as a simple run out. But detractors have always brought in the spirit of cricket aspect into the dismissal.
Recently R Ashwin responded to a user on social media platform X, who had summarized the sentiments behind this mode of dismissal and said “Players of countries like England, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan have been against it in the open. Even the Indian Men's team never attempted it under Dhoni, Rohit, or Kohli.”
“But God forbids, if it happens to any player in the important moment of World Cup or if any batter like Kohli nearing his century, the cricket world will see how the tables turn.”
The user urged that a fair warning should be given before running the batter out at the non-striker’s end.
Ashwin said that it was a fair assessment and said that if the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others get out in a similar manner then the bowler, affecting the dismissal, would have to face a lot of criticism.
He also said that batters should make life easier for themselves by staying inside the crease until the bowler releases the ball.
“This is a fair assessment of the situation. Imagine someone running out kohli, Rohit, Smith, Root, or any crucial batter at the non-strikers in the World Cup semi-final or a crunch game which will decide qualification. I am sure hell will break loose and there will be a character assassination campaign by some experts who still don’t agree with it and of course, fans that are on the receiving end.
There is only one solution, whoever be the batter and whatever be the magnitude of the situation, the batter needs to watch the bowler load the ball up and rotate his shoulder before taking off and if he doesn’t do that and gets out, we should applaud the bowler and tell the batsmen that he can do better.
He didn't complete his action at all and he should look for it in the 5th 6th over arguments are lame” cos once the bowler loads up and gets ready to deliver, he can’t run the batter out cos it’s incorrect according to the law.
At the moment not all teams are doing it but come the World Cup, I hope everyone is ready for it cos taking a moral high stand and saying we won’t do it, should open a strategic window for the other teams and genuinely teams should take every single advantage coming their way cos winning a World Cup is a lifetime achievement.
Finally, is winning everything? It's everything for some and not for many others, we need to accept both, cos we are all different. Stay inside the crease and live in peace,” Ashwin tweeted in response.
