On Wednesday, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the official custodian of cricket laws, announced a series of amendments to the existing cricket rules in place.
Running out batsman at non-striker’s end moved to runouts
One of the more exciting changes to have come out from the new laws is that running out batsmen at the non-striker’s end- something colloquially referred to as ‘Mankading’- is now a legitimate and fair means of dismissal. The ruling on the same has been moved from law 41 (unfair play) to law 38 (runout) and will be in effect from October 1.
This updation of rules essentially brings an end to the much contested debates around whether or not running out a non-striker batsman is unfair or not. Just to be clear, the mode of dismissal in question was never considered ‘illegal’; but the spirit of cricket argument that inherently came attached with the subject always made it a controversial topic to talk about.
Ravichandran Ashwin has been a staunch proponent of the ruling change
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, for one, has often come under scrutiny for his contentious stance on the subject matter. Back in 2019, Ashwin- while playing for the Kings XI Punjab- ran out Rajasthan’s Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end, which at the time, caused a great deal of stir around the way Ashwin chose to play the game.
The issue did not end with the Buttler dismissal; as in the subsequent IPL 2020 season, Ashwin chose not to run out Aaron Finch at the non-striker’s end, which was something that could’ve been influenced by his coach at the Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting. A year later, Ashwin got into a heated debate with KKR’s Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee, who labelled him a ‘disgrace’ to the game for using ‘cheap tactics to win’.
But as it stands at the moment, R Ashwin finally- and officially- has his moment under the Sun. And social media is brimming with calls for celebration to commemorate this iconic moment. Although the celebrations had begun a while ago when Ash went on to overtake the legendary Kapil Dev and rank second on India’s all-time wicket-takers list.
Sehwag asks R Ashwin to celebrate the new rules in full-freedom with Jos Buttler
But joining in the most recent wave of celebrations is former India opener, Virender Sehwag. Viru congratulated Ash in his trademark comical fashion; first by applauding the fact that he had become India’s second leading bowler in tests. But Viru’s post also included a part about celebrating the new run-out rule with ‘full freedom’. And he couldn’t have recommended a better partner to celebrate this ruling-change with.
Congratulations @ashwinravi99, great week this one. First becoming second highest wicket taker in Tests for India, and now this. Ab full freedom to plot such run-outs with Buttler.
Ek karna zaroor 😊 https://t.co/oCjfYdr6nr— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 9, 2022
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Besides the run-out change, the MCC also announced an important new rule wherein new batsmen at the crease will have to wait at the non-striker’s end even if the batters had originally crossed. Some other changes include a permanent ban to applying saliva on the ball, clarity on wide-balls with respect to the batsman, and a new dead ball scenario when bowlers try to run batsmen out.