NEW DELHI: India greats such as Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday welcomed cricket’s governing body changing the law on controversial “Mankad” run outs, which will no longer be classed as “unfair play”. The rare mode of dismissal — where a bowler runs out the non-striker in their delivery stride if the batter is out of his crease — was named after Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, who 75 years ago ran out Bill Brown twice in that fashion on a tour of Australia in 1947.
The nickname for that type of dismissal has stuck ever since, much to the annoyance of Mankad, who died in 1978, and other Indian cricketers. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of the sport’s laws, have always held such dismissals are legitimate and batters should not seek to gain an advantage by backing up out of their ground. But confusingly, the dismissal was listed under Law 41: “Unfair Play”.
But in one of several changes announced by the MCC this week that will come into effect from October 1, it will now be covered under Law 38: “Run Out”. “I was always uncomfortable with that particular dismissal being called Mankaded,” Tendulkar said in a video message. “I am really happy that it’s been changed to run out. It always should have been run out according to me. So this is one good news for all of us.”
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ran out England’s Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end in an Indian Premier League game in 2019 and was widely criticised for acting against the spirit of cricket. England pace great Stuart Broad on Wednesday said, despite the law change, he would not run someone out with a Mankad. “I think it is unfair & wouldn’t consider it, as in my opinion, dismissing a batter is about skill & the Mankad requires zero skill,” Broad wrote on Twitter.
