Smriti Mandhana, the young Indian woman cricketer, is making headlines and this time it is not related to her batting but her dismissal which took place in a controversial manner. The incident took place in a match which was played between Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the Senior Women’s T20 League.
Smriti was mankaded (run-out at the non-striker end) by the Rajasthan bowler KP Choudhary when she was at the score of 28. Though it didn’t have an effect on Maharashtra as it had to chase only 103 runs to win the match yet Smriti Mandhana was visibly upset with the manner in which she was dismissed and she was seen having some heated discussion with the bowler and the Rajasthan players.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/krithika0808/status/1518097034401566720
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
While it has always been a matter of discussion whether run-out at non-striker end is unfair play or not, some time back the Marylebone Cricket Club made some changes in the laws of cricket and one of them was declaring run-out at non-striker end a mode of dismissal as run-out.
The 25 years old young cricketer made her international debut in the year 2013 and till now, she has represented the country in 4 test matches in which she has scored 325 runs (1 century & 2 fifties). In 71 ODIs that Smriti Mandhana has played, she has scored 2788 runs (5 centuries & 22 half-centuries). As far as her T20I record is concerned, she has played 84 matches in which she has scored 1971 runs (14 half-centuries).
Mankading or run-out at non-striker end when the batter is backing too much has been a topic of discussion in the recent past too after R Ashwin mankaded Jos Buttler in an IPL match in 2019 when the former was the skipper of Punjab Kings (earlier Kings XI Punjab) and the latter was a member of Rajasthan Royals. While there were many who called it unfair and against the spirit of the game, the Indian spinner was firm on his stand as he cited that whatever he did is within the laws of the game and he would not mind doing it again if he gets a chance.
Don’t you feel the batters should ensure that they also follow the rule of staying in the crease until the bowler bowls the delivery? What is your opinion in this regard? Share with us.
