The debate over Mankad is a never-ending topic as it has led to many controversies in the past. During the 1992 World Cup, we witnessed Kapil Dev Mankad after which the likes of Sachitra Senanayake and Ravichandran Ashwin have gone on to Mankad batsmen. Surprisingly Senanayake and Ashwin mankaded the exact same batsmen, who is none other than Jos Buttler from England.
Last year we saw how Ravichandran Ashwin Mankad Jos Buttler during the match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Ashwin who was the Kings XI Punjab skipper back then Mankad Jos Buttler as he stepped far too ahead out of his crease.
Umpires ruled Buttler out as Ashwin was too adamant on calling back Jos Buttler, this decision created a lot of controversies last year as some considered it unfair whereas some considered it well within the spirit of cricket.
So how could another IPL season go without another Mankad drama? So this season, Ravichandran Ashwin had another opportunity to Mankad another batsman, this time it was Aaron Finch who backed up far too much away from the crease but to everyone’s surprise, Ashwin decided not to Mankad him despite having the opportunity to do so. Prior to the season started, Ricky Ponting made a statement directed towards Ashwin was that no Mankad would take place until he’s the coach of Delhi Capitals.
Ricky Ponting Wanted Me To Mankad Finch – Ravichandran Ashwin
After the match got over, Ashwin tweeted how he had given a final warning to the batsmen. Also, Ashwin spoke about how Ponting reacted to the Mankad warning. He revealed that Ponting himself wanted Ashwin to run out finch since he had gone too far.
“I tagged Ponting in the tweet. He said ‘he’s gone too far down, I myself wanted you to run him out’. He said he’s talking to the ICC committee about a run penalty. He’s trying hard to keep his promise,” Ashwin was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
Ravichandran Ashwin also went on to explain why he decided against to Mankad Aaron Finch. He said that since he and Finch are good buddies, as they were part of the same squad in 2018 for Kings XI Punjab he decided not to and leave it as a final warning to the Aussie batsmen.
“I stopped and thought for a second whether to do the runout or not. Even when I was thinking, he was just staring at me and didn’t come into the crease. I don’t know why he was staring. But he’s been a good friend since KXIP days. He’s a very nice guy, a lot of times we have sat together in the evenings and passed time. So, I let it slide as a final warning,” Ashwin stated.