‘Bowlers should not have any second thoughts’
‘Bowlers should not have any second thoughts’: Ashwin urges bowlers to punish non-strikers who step out of the crease before the release of the ball.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has welcomed MCC’s decision to amend its law regarding run-out at the non-striker’s end, saying bowlers should not have any “second thoughts” in dismissing the batter if he steps out before the ball is released.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) earlier this month re-classified the run-out, from law 41’s ‘unfair play’ to law 38 that pertains to legitimate run-outs. “My dear fellow bowlers, please understand. The extra step [that] the non-striker takes might end up destroying your entire career,” Ashwin, who had ignited a debate about the tactic’s legitimacy by dismissing Jos Buttler in an Indian Premier League match in 2019, said in a YouTube video.
“If the non-striker ends up on strike because of that extra step he takes, he might smash a six. But, the current striker might get out. If you take a wicket, you will grow in your career, but if you are smashed for a six, your career may go downwards. So the impact is huge.
“So, the bowlers should not have any second thoughts on running the non-striker out. It (the MCC) is giving allowance to the bowler. This is the significance of the rule.”
Ashwin, who faced criticism for his controversial bowler’s end run-out of Buttler, hopes that cricket fans would stop ridiculing him, especially now that he has become a teammate of the English wicketkeeper-batter at Rajasthan Royals.
“When I play, the crowd shouts ‘Buttler, Buttler’ when it sees me. Why do you guys do that? We are now teammates, guys. Non-striker leaving the crease early is the actual unfair play in this whole scenario, and not the bowler running him out,” said Ashwin, who was picked by Rajasthan for Rs 5 crore at the mega auction.
The dismissal came to be known as ‘Mankading’ after the legendary India all-rounder Vinoo Mankad twice ran out Australia opener Bill Brown at the non-striker’s end in 1947.
‘Bowlers should not have any second thoughts’
“It has been changed now to run out. It (the MCC) has destigmatised the entire concept and have termed it a run-out. The bowler was earlier expected to give a warning when the batter left the crease at the non-striker’s end,” Ashwin said.
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“Bowlers used to feel bad about doing this, wondering how their team’s batters would feel and what the cricketing world would think. So, thinking about these consequences, they would not run the non-strikers out,” Ashwin went on to add.?