In Afghanistan’s Sphageeza T20 league, Dawlat Zadran was found Mankading Kabul Eagles opener Noor Ali, who was batting at 61 off 42 balls, in their match against Mis Ainak Knights. Noor Ali was seen backing up too far at the non-striker end and paid heavily for his offence when Zadran stopped in his tracks to dislodge the bails.
‘Spirit of Cricket’
Although mankading is a perfectly legal way to get a wicket for your team, cricket elitists look down upon it for its so-called ‘unsporting’ nature. Whenever any incident of mankading grabs spotlight, the phrase ‘Spirit of Cricket’ is not far away. Although there is no book definition of the term ‘Spirit of Cricket’ it is believed to be somewhat on the lines of ‘being gentlemanly’ and ‘sportive’. The said elitists believe that the mankading rule is not in the aforementioned spirit of the game and therefore it must not be employed by the fielding side.
But supporters of the form of dismissal argue that gaining an unfair advantage by stepping out of the crease before the bowler delivers the ball is no less unsporting, and therefore the rule of the mankad is justified.
“I will not allow my players to mankad”: Ponting
Australia legend Ricky Ponting also raised his voice against the mankad, stating that he wouldn’t allow any of his own player at Delhi Capitals to be associated with it. Having said that, he also admitted that the batsman is cheating of he backs up too far before the ball is delivered.
“I just think that we have got to find a way around. Trying to stop the batsman cheating. We have had this conversation already. I don’t want to see anyone running two or three yards down the wicket. Because that basically is cheating,” Ponting said while talking about mankading with Ashwin on his YouTube show.
“I think there should be some sort of a run penalty. If you are to get to the top of your bowling action and stop, and it shows that the batsman is cheating and is out of his crease, I think put a run penalty on them.
“And do it right from the start, because that will stop him right away. Imagine taking 10 runs off a team total because you have taken yards… those sort of things need to be looked at” the former Australian captain quoted.