Ravi Ashwin has foregone the chance to dismiss Aaron Finch via Mankad in the IPL, following a talking-to from coach Ricky Ponting.
Ashwin pulled up during his delivery in the Delhi vs Bangalore match, catching Finch well out of his ground during the third over of the Royal Challengers' run chase. Finch was just marginally out of his crease when Ashwin was in his delivery stride yet clearly far enough for the bowler to notice.
Rather than whipping off the bails, the Indian spin superstar gave the Australian limited-overs captain a warning to stay in his crease. The game quickly carried on.
Ashwin sparked a massive furore over cricket etiquette in the IPL last year when he dismissed England star Jos Buttler via Mankad, while playing for Punjab against Rajasthan.
The Mankad is a controversial run-out method where the bowler catches out a non-striking batsman who has left his crease before the ball is delivered. It is traditionally taboo, considered an ugly act of bad sportsmanship, though is gradually gaining legitimacy in some eyes as cricket becomes more skewed in favour of batsmen.
Australian spin icon Shane Warne was among Ashwin's fiercest critics after the Buttler Mankad, calling it a "disgraceful and low act". Ponting also condemned Ashwin in advance of becoming his coach, when the off-spinner moved to Delhi this season.
There was no repeat today with Finch, though Ashwin later declared that he would offer no further warnings and tagged Ponting in that comment on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99/status/1313199583959289856?s=20Ashwin's action were supported by former New Zealand Test paceman Simon Doull, who was commentating on the match.
"This is brilliant. He's given him a warning - fair enough, too," Doull said.
"I know there's people that frown upon it, I know Ricky Ponting's knot in favour of it - I've got no problem with this from Ashwin. No problem at all.
"If I am a bare millimetre over the front line with my front foot, it's called a no-ball. So he has no right to be out of his crease until the ball's been let go.
"I have no problem with what Ashwin's done whatsoever."
Former Australian Test batsman Michael Slater backed Ashwin's decision to caution Finch rather than go for a dismissal that would have created bedlam.
"He's done it the right way, he's given a batsman a warning and just sort of said [stop] ... it's not he's taken the bails off and wants to hold on to that appeal," Slater said.
"It's like, 'Mate, you can't break the line that far when I haven't released the ball'. I have no problem with that."
Ponting seemed amused by the incident, having said before this IPL season that he would tell Ashwin not to Mankad opponents.
"I'll be having a chat with him (Ashwin) about it (Mankading), that's the first thing I'll do," Ponting said on The Grade Cricketer podcast in August.
"Obviously he wasn't in our squad last year, he's one of our players that we tried to afford to bring in this year.
"Look, he's a terrific bowler and he's done a great job in the IPL for a long period of time now. But I must admit watching that last season, as soon as it happened and he did that, I actually sat our boys down and said, 'Look, I know he's done it, there'll be others around the tournament who'll think about doing this as well but that's not going to be the way that we play our cricket. We won't be doing that'.
"So, that's going to be a conversation and that's going to be a hard conversation I will have to have with him but I'm pretty sure he'll take it on the chin.
"I think, even him, looking back now, probably he'd say it was within the rules and he's right to do it but this is not within the spirit of the game; not in the way I want, at least with the Delhi Capitals, anyway."
Delhi won their clash with Bangalore by 59 runs, having made 4-196 batting first. Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis smashed 53 from 26 balls for the Capitals, before Bangalore limped to 9-137. Kagiso Rabada took 4-24, while Ashwin claimed 1-26.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/ipl-mankad-ravi-ashwin-aaron-finch-ricky-ponting-ban-on-controversial-move/e6ae3110-fc46-4e54-9a1c-6aad7a1e1ca5
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