Yesterday, the IPL match between KXIP and RR was a competitive one. 120 balls were bowled as 22 players gave their hearts out on the field. And yet, everyone seems to be talking about one ball, one bowler and one batsman in particular.
It was the last ball of the 13th over to be bowled by KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin when Jos Buttler was found out of his crease before the ace spinner could complete the delivery. Ashwin knocked the bails, made an appeal and the third umpire declared Buttler run out.
Ashwin has since been facing a lot of criticism for his alleged violation of the ‘spirit of the game’.
IMO what @ashwinravi99 did was disgusting. @josbuttler was justified in his angst and anger. However I would ask just one thing from people who are defending Ash, would you do the same if @msdhoni and @imVkohli get dismissed in a similar fashion?? #AshwinMankads #IPL2019
— vishesh (@vroy38) March 26, 2019
So disappointed in @ashwinravi99 as a Captain & as a person. All captains sign the #IPL wall & agree to play in the spirit of the game. RA had no intention of delivering the ball – so it should have been called a dead ball. Over to u BCCI – this a not a good look for the #IPL
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 25, 2019
He ain’t winning any spirit of cricket awards is old ashwin
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 25, 2019
There are a lot more of those tweets. Trust me!
Is the spirit of the game different from the laws that govern the game?
The law dictates that the batsman cannot move out of the bowling crease before the ball leaves the bowler’s hands. It doesn’t require the bowler to warn the batsman before dismissing him, as is the case with any other dismissal.
Does the wicket keeper warn the batsman before stumping him out?
Imagine if Ashwin had not ‘Mankaded’ him and it was a close single and a fielder hit the stumps but Butter had just made it. How would that have been fair to the bowling team?
Buttler would effectively have had that couple of inches of advantage that would have allowed him to safely return to the crease and save his wicket.
Mind you, this is the not first time Buttler has been dismissed in similar fashion.
In 2014, Sri Lankan Sachithra Senanayake had ‘Mankaded’ him in Birmingham after warning him first. It seems like, Buttler is sort of a serial offender in this matter.
Three balls from the same over. Clearly not in the crease while the ball is still in the hand. You wonder why Ashwin premeditated on the last ball of this over! pic.twitter.com/5o0OhJP9D8
— Yash (@TheJoshya) March 26, 2019
And it’s not Buttler. Anyone who has ever played any form of cricket knows this. Be it gully cricket or international games, the batsmen always tend to move out of the crease so as to have an advantage over the fielding side.
When wins and losses can be decided by millimetres, conceding a foot to the non-striker who has to run less than needed to complete the run doesn’t make any sense.
You simply cannot move out of the crease before the ball has been bowled.
Ashwin didn’t have to warn him. The onus was on Jos Butler to watch the bowler and stay inside the line. That’s what the law states.
Sure, it looks ugly and uncomfortable for any fan watching the game. But it is as it is. Ashwin did nothing wrong.
If the spirit of the game and the laws of the game are not mutually exclusive entities, then what Ashwin did was within his rights.
So why the criticism?
