Batsmen taking undue advantage, should not invoke ā€˜spirit of gameā€™, opines Javagal Srinath

Batsmen taking undue advantage, should not invoke ā€˜spirit of gameā€™, opines Javagal Srinath

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R Ashwin dismissing Jos Buttler through Mankading in IPL 2019

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IPL

India fast bowler Javagal Srinath has opined that he is perfectly fine with the batsmen being Mankad if they are taking undue advantage and they should invoke ā€˜spirit of cricketā€™ debate on this. He added that the onus is on the batsman to stay within the crease until the ball has been delivered.Ā 

Recently, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting had reignited the debate on Mankading by promising to convince Ashwin not to inflict such dismissals. Since then, there literally have been two sections of cricketers and pundits, one who supports Mankad and one who opposes dismissal by such method.Ā 

Javagal Srinath, who is currently an ICC match referee, has weighed in on the debate and opined that he is perfectly fine with bowlers running out batsmen who tried to gain an advantage by leaving the crease early. He also recommended the batsmen not to invoke the ā€˜spirit of cricketā€™ debate after being out by such a method.Ā 

'"The bowler is focusing on the batsman [as he bowls]. For the batsman [at the non-striker's end] to stick to his crease till the ball is released is no big deal, because he's not batting, nor is he thinking of anything else," Srinath told Ashwin on his Youtube show 'DRS With Ash' as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.Ā 

"Don't look for any empathy. Don't invoke the spirit of the game. The spirit of the game is with the runner. He cannot move out of the crease. If he is doing it, he's not invoking the spirit of the game itself. I would believe that the batsman should stick to the crease."

On Sunday, Ashwin also found support from his new IPL boss Parth Jindal, who felt the senior bowler had shown a lot of courage in running out Jos Buttler while captaining Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019. Srinath also seemed to suggest the same and stated that the onus is on the batsman to stick to his crease until the ball is released by the bowlers.Ā 

"So the batsman shouldn't leave the crease and the bowler should focus on just bowling and the batsman he's going to bowl to. If the batsman is taking undue advantage, and if he's involved in a run out, I am fine. I am perfectly okay with that. The rules have been set and reiterated many times. It is not about T20, but every format of the game. The onus is on the batsman to stick to the crease until the ball has been delivered. That's the best way to look into it,ā€ he added.Ā 

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