The 'Mankading' stigma needs to go

For decades now, running out batters at the non-striker's end when they leave the crease early - colloquially known as "Mankading" -  has been considered against the "spirit of the game" despite being perfectly legal according to the laws of cricket. The dismissal takes its name from former India all-rounder Vinoo Mankad who ran out Australia's Bill Brown in a Test match during India's 1947-48 tour of Australia. 

The category of dismissal has a divided opinion within the sport and it was evident again on Saturday when India's Deepti Sharma ran out England's last batter Charlie Dean to seal the thrilling third ODI at Lord's.

Dean was visibly devastated and threw her bat in disappointment and the Indian team got booed for their act. Former England captain Nasser Hussain, on air, expressed his dissatisfaction while the likes of England greats James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Dominic Cork, Sam Billings felt uncomfortable with the mode of dismissal and the way the game ended.

England captain Amy Jones said that she was "not a fan" of such an act while India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur backed her teammates, saying that it was well within the ICC rules.

Now there have been so many incidents where the bowlers warned the batters after they had left the crease too early. Bangladesh's Mohammad Rafique refused to run Umar Gul out at the non-striker's end during a crucial juncture of the famous Multan Test which Bangladesh eventually lost by a narrow margin. Chris Gayle warned Eoin Morgan in the 2012 T20 World Cup with a rather funny gesture. 

But what does the rule say? 

There has been a long-term "unwritten rule" which suggests that a bowler should warn a batter before performing the runout attempt. 

The MCC Law 41.16.1 states, "If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be run out."

The relevant law has recently been removed by the ICC from the "Unfair play" section and filed instead under "Run out".

Still, the mode of dismissal has been termed as "controversial" by the leading media in the world although it's a legitimate one. While a lot of cricketers and experts questioned India's integrity, many of them came forward to remind everyone of the legitimacy of the dismissal.

Former England spinner Monty Panesar tweeted, "It would be questioned for a long time but it's in the law of the games. You can be run out by mankading. Bear in mind, it's in the laws of the game."

Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been trying for a long time to "destigmatise" the dismissal, lauded Deepti Sharma for her awareness. The Indian off-spinner ran Jos Buttler out in the IPL in the same manner that also had divided opinions like Sharma's act.

Now that it's not going to be part of the "Unfair play" section anymore, there is hardly any chance of calling the dismissal controversial. Rather, it's unfair if a batter leaves the crease too early because it will give him/her an extra advantage and there will be less chance of the batter at the non-striker's end to be run out at the keeper's end.

Cricket has traditionally been a batters' game and even the benefit of the doubt goes in their favour when it comes to close calls. 

The ICC has finally addressed that too. It's baffling how an act is termed as "against the spirit of the game" when it is perfectly legal. How many batters walk when they know they have nicked it? 

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra shared a video on Twitter of a dismissal where England captain Amy Jones once didn't catch the ball cleanly but didn't call the batter back as she was given out. 

Now, these are against the spirit of cricket, not running out batters whilst backing up.