India skipper Rohit Sharma withdrew a mankad appeal against Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka during the first match of the ongoing 3-match home series against the neighbors.
Interestingly, Shanaka was unbeaten on 98 when pacer Md. Shami caught him wandering outside the crease and executed a run-out at the bowler’s end a.k.a. Mankad.
Sharma, however, canceled the appeal before the on-field umpire sent it upstairs and helped Dasun Shanaka complete his 2nd ODI century. The allrounder ended not out on 108 though Lanka lost by 67 runs.
R Ashwin schools Rohit Sharma for canceling MANKAD appeal
Rohit in the post-match conference had said he thought Shanaka didn’t deserve to go out like that after the manner in which he fought for his team. The Mumbai Indians icon was hailed across the internet by many for showing sportsmanship on the field.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, however, does not think along similar lines.
“Of course, Shami’s run out (Mankad). Shanaka was on 98, Shami ran him out in the non-striker’s end, and he appealed too. Rohit withdrew that appeal. So many people tweeted about that immediately. I am going to keep repeating only one thing, guys. The game situation is immaterial. That is a legitimate form of dismissal”.
The bowler has schooled Rohit Sharma for interfering in the decision of MANKAD that should have been exclusive to the bowler, Mohammed Shami.
“I find it very surprising to have so many taboos surrounding this mode of dismissal. But the entire dismissal is regarding what the bowler does, right? The right of making that dismissal or making that appeal or making that decision lies with the bowler, right?”.
R Ashwin added solid weight to his argument by giving examples of normal modes of dismissal requiring just an appeal from a single player; a bowler or fielder, and not the approval of the captain for umpires to declare the batsman out.
“If you ask an LBW appeal or a caught-behind, nobody checks with the captain on whether they are sure with the appeal. They’ll give him out if the bowler appeals and that is the end of it. See, even if one fielder appeals, it is the duty of the umpire to declare a player out if he is out”, the off-spinner added.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who started the revolt against MANKAD being a taboo after he dismissed Jos Buttler through it in IPL 2019, is going to feature under Rohit Sharma in the four-test home series vs AUS that commences February 9.