“MANKAD” this word came to trending and got a bulk of searches in google after an uncertain incident which took place between Jos Buttler and Ravichandran Ashwin in a match of Indian Premier League 2019.
WHAT IS MANKAD?
Basically, MANKAD is a form of dismissal in cricket. This dismissal is the same as running out ( if the batsman is unable to reach the crease while running between the wickets and at the same time the fielding team plucks the bell out) but in this case the only difference is, the batsman is dismissed by the bowler by running him/her out while backing up.
Let’s make this dismissal a slight descriptive.
When the bowler starts his delivery stride the batsman usually backs up, leaving the crease and starts moving towards his partner on the batting end to complete a run within a short period of time.
And this is seen in all formats of cricket starting from gully to international cricket. This practice of backing up is also taught to every individual during the beginning of his/her career and there is absolutely nothing wrong in it.
But if the batsman (non-striker) leaves his crease before the bowler has delivered the ball and at the same time if the bowler runs the non-striker out, then according to the LAWS OF THE GAME the batsman needs to get back to the pavilion and declared OUT by “MANKAD”
When did MANKAD come to limelight?
This law of MANKAD came to the limelight a few decades back in the year 1947 at Sydney when an Indian bowler named VINOO MANKAD ran out BILL BROWN in the same way while backing up. This dismissal occurred during India’s tour of Australia.
Before running him out he had warned him once still Bill Brown did the same mistake and got dismissed by MANKAD. This was the second time when Bill Brown got dismissed by Vinoo Mankad in the same way.
And this uncertain dismissal led to a controversy within these teams and the cricket boards where Sir Don Bradman (the captain of Australia at that time) strictly opposed this form of dismissal in cricket.
In International cricket, this was again repeated in the year 2014 when JOS BUTTLER got mankaded by SACHITHRA SENANAYAKA during a match between Sri Lanka and England.
That was not the only time when Buttler got mankaded, he again became a victim of this uncertain dismissal in IPL 2019 by Ravichandran Ashwin.
Soon after his dismissal, there was a lot of confusion and chaos between both the teams on the field regarding the decision of 3rd Umpire.
AUTHOR’S OPINION
According to me if we see MANKAD has both positive as well as negative aspects.
Positively if we see this dismissal is already in the LAWS OF CRICKET and umpires need to follow the same for making their decision. So blaming them for their decision is not at all a wise opinion.
The negative side of MANKAD is when a bowler Mankad’s the batsman without giving any warning it creates a bad impression of the bowler on the batsman and also affects the spirit of the game.
The law of cricket states that in any such cases the umpire needs to review the action of the bowler and also consider his warning before finalizing his decision.
