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The BCCI has instructed IPL umpires not to ask fielding captains if they want to withdraw appeals after a non-striker run-out, aiming to end the taboo around the Mankad dismissal.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s run-out of Jos Buttler caused a huge controversy. (AFP Photo)
The times when umpires looked at captains after a non-striker run-out or the Mankad might be behind us. According to a Cricbuzz report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has instructed the IPL umpires not to confirm whether the fielding captain would want to withdraw the appeal after a non-striker has been run out in a match, in a move that could go a long way in ending the tabboo surrounding it.
Mankad, a dismissal named after the legendary Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad’s dismissal of Bill Brown during India’s 1948 tour of Australia, describes a run-out at the non-striker’s end before the ball is bowled. It’s an attempt to check the non-striker from covering too much ground and getting an advantage in taking runs.
For years, it was seen as against the undefined ‘Spirit of Cricket’ and frowned upon. On rare occasions when bowlers took the risk against the stigma and attempted it, some captains would step in and withdraw the appeal, calling back the dismissed batter and earning praises for upholding the so-called spirit.
In 2022, the International Cricket Council (ICC) started a major paradigm shift. It brought the dismissal from the ‘Unfair Play’ section of the rules to the ‘Run out’ section. It was simply described as ‘Run Out’.
“The Playing Conditions follow the Laws in moving this method of effecting a Run out from the ‘Unfair Play’ section to the ‘Run out’ section. Previously looked down as unfair play, running out a non-striker for backing up too much will now be considered as a regular run-out,” the ICC said at the time.
In 2012, Ravichandran Ashwin got Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne out at the non-striker’s end during their 2012 Commonwealth Bank ODI series clash. Sachin Tendulkar was seen asking the then captain Virender Sehwag to withdraw the appeal which he did. The skipper later said he did that “because if we appealed and the umpire gave him out, then somebody will criticise that, you know, that was not spirit of the game”.
Ashwin became the biggest proponent of the dismissal in India. On occasions, he single-handedly led the fight against the stigma on social media.
