CHENNAI: Chris Gayle’s 47-ball 79 or Kings XI Punjab’s fightback against Rajasthan Royals could have been the talking point of the match in Jaipur on Monday. Instead, Twitter was abuzz with the incident of Ravichandran Ashwin effecting the ‘Mankading’ against Jos Buttler.
The legally permissible yet seldom used method of dismissing the non-striker who has backed up too far was employed by Ashwin in the 13th over. Buttler had made 69 off 43 and kept Royals in the race chasing 185 to win. That was when the first-ever instance of ‘Mankading’ in the IPL took place. It proved to be the turning point of the match.
It divided opinion, not only because this remains a controversial mode of dismissal. The debate was over whether Ashwin had completed the act when the batsman was already out of the crease or did he wait in his delivery stride for him to leave the crease. If it is the second, the third umpire could have over-ruled the verdict. Since he did not, fingers shouldn’t be pointed at Ashwin.
Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane said after the match his team “will take it in stride and move on to the next match”. Ashwin’s take was, “It’s always been my take on it, because it’s my half of the crease.”
2012
Ashwin had done this to Lahiru Thirimanne (SL) in an ODI in 2012
2014
Buttler had suffered this fate at the hands of S Senanayake (SL), in an ODI in 2014
Law 41.16
If the non-striker is out of his/her ground from the moment the ball comes into play to the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the bowler is permitted to attempt to run him/her out.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab 184/4 in 20 ovs (Gayle 79, Sarfaraz 46 n.o) bt Rajasthan Royals 170/9 in 20 ovs (Buttler 69).