The Delhi Capitals off spinner Ravi Ashwin had a really interesting chat with the coach Ricky Ponting on his YouTube channel earlier today where he asked Ponting about his take on the bowler running the batsman out at the non-striker’s end without delivering the ball, which is called “mankad” in the cricketing terminology.
Ashwin had mankaded Jos Buttler in IPL 2018 and a lot of the former cricketers didn’t like it one bit. While Ricky Ponting didn’t speak too much on the issue at that time, he recently said till the time he’s the coach of Delhi Capitals, he wouldn’t let Ashwin mankad anyone in the IPL.
In their chat on YouTube, Ashwin asked Ponting if it is fair for the batsman to take the undue advantage of stepping outside the crease at the non-striker’s end before the ball is delivered.
Ashwin said he himself was a batsman at the junior level and he realized that stepping outside the crease at the non-striker’s end before the ball was bowled was a massive advantage in terms of running between the wickets.
So, while the bowlers are closely monitored and aren’t allowed to cross even an inch outside their bowling crease before delivering the ball, how can the batsman be allowed any advantage of space?
Ashwin asks Ponting what could be the penalty for mankad?
Ponting came up with an interesting suggestion to penalize the batsman who tries to take undue advantage at the non-striker’s end.
Ponting told Ashwin if a bowler pauses in his bowling stride before delivering the ball and appeals to the umpire that the non-striker had already left his crease at the time he paused, the umpire can send it upstairs and the third umpire can have a look if the non-striker had really left his crease at the time the bowler paused in his delivery stride.
And if the television replays show that the non-striker was indeed out of his crease at the time the bowler paused, the batting team could be penalized one run. And, the penalty should be kept getting imposed on the batting team every time the non-striker does it.
“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,” Ponting said during the chat with Ashwin.
