Ravichandran Ashwin, an off-spinner for the Rajasthan Royals and Team India, has strongly supported the “Mankad” style for running out players who are not on strike. Ashwin has been involved in a “Mankad” scandal himself. While playing for the Punjab Kings, he ran out Jos Buttler, who is now on the Royals team.
On Monday night, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel almost ran out Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi at the non-striker’s end, but he missed. If he had, the match would have ended in a tie. Ashwin quickly complimented Harshal before his “homecoming” to Chepauk on Wednesday, when he will play against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.
Ashwin said about Harshal Patel’s try at an event in Chennai on Tuesday, “I’m glad a bowler had the courage, and I wish more would do it.” “All I can see is that the non-striker will steal a run if there is one ball and one to win. And every time, I would stop and run a batter out.”
Ashwin also said that he told his wife, Preeti, that Harshal should run out the batter while they were watching the match between RCB and LSG on TV. “I was just watching the game with my wife and telling him to run him out. He did it, too. I was so glad that a bowler had the guts to do it, and I wish more bowlers would do it,” Ashwin said.
When he ran out Buttler in the 2019 season, the all-rounder from Tamil Nadu became the first bowler in IPL history to use this rule to get rid of a hitter. At the time, Ashwin was the captain of the Punjab Kings. He was playing against his present team, the Rajasthan Royals, at Mohali’s Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Harshal Patel noticed that Ravi Bishnoi was backing up too far at the non-striker end during the last delivery of the RCB vs. LSG match. Patel quit running forward and tried to run Bishnoi out of the game. He threw the ball at the wickets, but Bishnoi returned to the crease. Even though the ball hit the stumps, Bishnoi was not out, and the on-field umpire didn’t ask the third umpire to review the ruling.
This choice made people scratch their heads because it looked like Bishnoi was out of his goal before the ball was kicked. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rule 38.3.1.2 says that the bowler can no longer run out the non-striker once he has reached the point where he would typically release the ball. So, the umpire said that Harshal’s throw was against the rules.
