Ashwin ‘Mankading’ Buttler: What comes first – rules or the spirit of cricket?

Illustration by ThePrint Team

An IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals Monday has put the spotlight back on the polarised ‘Mankading’ — a way to run the non-striker out before the ball has been bowled. R. Ashwin did that to Jos Buttler and sparked a debate over the ‘spirit’ and the ‘law’ of the game.

ThePrint asks: Ashwin ‘Mankading’ Buttler: What comes first – rules or the spirit of cricket?

Jos Buttler was blissfully walking out; it would be ridiculous if Ashwin hadn’t ‘Mankaded’ him

Jaideep Verma
Writer-director and founder of Impact Index

It is a symptom of the low IQ in a sport that so many elite practitioners and commentators in cricket throw a fit in the name of “spirit of the game” even when the law, rewritten recently to avoid ambiguity, overwhelmingly supports the act of running out a non-striker who takes a start for a run.

The law does so because it is the most logical thing to do – a non-striker is, without doubt, giving himself an unfair advantage by taking this start, and it should be within the bowler’s rights to thwart him. There has to be a penalty if the non-striker refuses to give this cognisance.

The precedent of giving the non-striker a “warning” from a time when cricket made a distinction between “professionals” and “amateurs” is so laughably and irrationally outdated that it actually makes a mockery of the competition. Cricket is the only major sport in the world afflicted by such nonsense.

Jos Buttler was blissfully walking out of his crease at the non-striker’s end even before Ravichandran Ashwin had loaded up to deliver the ball; logically, it would be ridiculous if Ashwin hadn’t run him out.

But then, why should cricket bother growing up when ostensible adults keep talking in baby tones around it?

‘Mankading’ is simply not something one expects from a cricketer of Ravichandran Ashwin’s stature

Madan Lal
Former cricketer, Indian cricket team

Maintaining the spirit of the game is an important tenet of cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin is an excellent cricketer who enjoys an international appeal and holds a certain stature. He has many records against his name, including taking close to 350 wickets in Test cricket. Not that it would have been okay if a younger novice did this, but ‘Mankading’ is simply not something one expects from Ashwin. As one of the best bowlers in the world, he shouldn’t have done what he did.

It is true that the pressure of the game can get to the players. When you are in that situation, you want to win by hook or crook. And so, one can try and understand how the pressure must have caused Ashwin to run Jos Buttler out at the non-striker’s end. But the criticism and flak he is facing is also warranted.

The law of the game does allow for such a run-out, which is why I think it is important to revisit the law and modify it to suit the game better. The batsmen should first be given a warning, at least once, and if they still persist, then Mankading them should be permissible.

To say that all players should only adhere to the ‘spirit’ may not be very practical

Ayaz Memon
Senior sports journalist, columnist and commentator

In sport, one always wants the spirit of the sport to prevail. The way Jos Buttler was ‘Mankaded’ by Ravichandran Ashwin was of course not the happiest thing to have happened on the field. For a spectator watching the game, it was a very uncool way to take a wicket.

That said, rules are made to govern the game and if you contravene any of the rules, there is always a price to pay. We must bear in mind that the rule was changed as recently as in 2017. It was believed that batsmen were beginning to take advantage of the situation and therefore the onus of staying inside the crease was shifted on them. It’s not obligatory on the bowler to even warn the batsman.

The modern ethos of the sport is very cut-throat. There is a lot more at stake, so to say that all players should only adhere to the ‘spirit’ may not even be very practical. You might feel you are doing a disservice to your team by not taking a wicket when there is an opportunity to do so. So, the idea of the spirit of the game falls outside the purview of the laws — which are sacrosanct.

The danger of this law could be that bowlers may feel armed with another mode of dismissal, and this may become an oft-used trick in the book. On the other hand, the batsmen will realise they need to be more careful and stick to the rule.

Non-striker sneaking in a few extra inches is both against law and spirit of the game

Gulu Ezekiel
Senior sports journalist and author

Nine out of ten times I would support the bowler in his action as I consider the non-striker to be breaking both the spirit and the laws of the game by sneaking in a few extra inches – it is an act of cheating.

In this particular case, it appears R. Ashwin deceived Jos Buttler into thinking he had delivered the ball, paused for a moment as he left the crease, and then effected the dismissal. There appears to be an element of deception in it.

It was then up to the third umpire, Australian Bruce Oxenford who is on the ICC elite panel, to decide if it was fair or unfair play on the part of Ashwin. He decided the batsman was out.

All this talk of warning the non-striker first and the bowler breaching the spirit of the game is nonsense. In white ball cricket in particular, the entire game is slanted against the bowler who are reduced to mere cannon fodder. In such circumstances the bowler is desperately trying to survive. Moreover, Buttler is a repeat offender over the years and even in the over he was out, he was transgressing. How many warnings does a batsman expect? Does a bowler get a warning on his first no-ball?

Many current and former cricketers who are passing moral judgment on Ashwin are themselves guilty of much worse transgressions both on and off the field and therefore are nothing but hypocrites.

Cricketers and the critics should keep the spirit of the game alive – by following its rules

Prashant Dixit
Senior copy editor, ThePrint

There is a wide belief that what spinner R. Ashwin did — ‘Mankad’ Jos Buttler — was ‘against the spirit of the game’.

So, what are the other rules of cricket that are not in the spirit of the game?

Cricket would benefit from its former and current representatives telling youngsters to keep the spirit of the game alive – by following its rules, especially that rule which lacks consensus.

If Ashwin’s act of trying to get a wicket by following the prescribed rules was outside the spirit’s ambit, where does that terminology place Buttler’s act of backing up to take undue advantage? Nowhere. And that’s because the game of cricket, and its ethical as well as legal code, seem to side with the batsmen. Not such a spirited thing that, is it?

Vinoo Mankad wasn’t ‘unsportsmanlike’ when he gave his name to this practice in 1947-48 Australia tour. That was how the Australian media had described his act — even though legend Don Bradman had backed the Indian bowler.

Similarly, Ashwin’s act doesn’t fall under the scanner of ‘spirit’ (which could mean different things to different people) when batsmen’s disregard for rules (which are same for everyone) don’t.

By Fatima Khan, journalist at ThePrint.