Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wants rules like leg byes and free hits to be removed from the game as they are unfairly in favor of batsmen. But India spinner R Ashwin, despite being a bowler, doesn't agree with Manjrekar's opinion against the free hit.
“Free hit is a thing I want gone, again terribly unfair on the bowlers. Today with the TV umpire monitoring no balls, a bowler has to be a centimeter over and immediately a string of punishments are meted out,” Manjrekar wrote in his column for Hindustan Times.
Manjrekar later shared the article on his Twitter account and tweeted, "Hi guys, tell me what you think about some aspects of the game mentioned in this column that have me peeved a little bit. Also, let me know what rule changes you would make to better your viewing experience."
Ashwin responded to his tweet and wrote that he doesn't want free-hit to go away as it is a great marketing tool. Instead, he suggested a new way to punish the batting side.
"Come on @sanjaymanjrekar ,free hit is a great marketing tool and has captured the imagination of all the fans," he replied.
The off-spinner, who had mankaded Jos Buttler in IPL 2019, further wrote that there should be a free ball for the bowler if a non-striker leaves the crease early. "Let’s add a free ball for the bowlers every time a batter leaves the nonstrikers end early, a wicket of that ball will reduce 10 runs of the bowlers analysis and total," he wrote.
"Remember: “you are supposed to leave the crease only after the ball leaves the hand”," added Ashwin.
