Going by the ICC manual, India all-rounder Deepti Sharma’s run out of Charlie Dean in the third ODI against England was perfectly legal. However, opinions were divided.
While some cricket experts backed it, Englishmen, such as Stuart Broad and James Anderson, expressed their annoyance.
The Indian eves beat England at Lord’s to sweep the three-match series and give a fitting farewell to the legendary Jhulan Goswami on Saturday.
However, bowler Deepti running out Charlie to claim England’s last wicket, after the batter had backed up, sparked a controversy.
Charlie was backing up when Sharma stopped in the middle of her bowling action to run-out the batter for 47 runs with the target just 17 runs away. The dismissal is perfectly legal as per the laws of the game.
“I find the debate of the Mankad really interesting. So many views from either side. I personally wouldn’t like to win a match like that, also, very happy for others to feel differently,” Broad tweeted.
Meanwhile, Broad’s longtime teammate and leading wicket-taker among pacers, Anderson said, “Will never understand why players feel the need to do this. Is she stealing ground?”
Another English player, Sam Billings wrote, “There’s surely not a person who has played the game that thinks this is acceptable? Just not cricket …”
England opener Alex Hales, currently featuring in the T20I series against Pakistan, replied to Billings' tweet by writing, “It shouldn’t be difficult for the non striker to stay in their crease til (till) the ball has left the hand.”
In his other tweet, Hales further said, “The ball didn’t leave the hand though...I’m not talking necessarily about this incident, but just the ‘mankad’ issue in general. It wouldn’t be an issue if batters simply remained in the crease until the ball has left the hand.”
However, many also came in support of the dismissal.
Former India batter Virender Sehwag lashed out at England cricketers showing their anger towards Deepti. “Funny to see so many English guys being poor losers. #Runout,” wrote Sehwag on Twitter.
Leading India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has often objected to these kind of run outs been termed ‘Mankading’ (named after former India player Vinoo Mankad), also backed the Indian team.
“Why the hell are you trending Ashwin? Tonight is about another bowling hero @Deepti_Sharma06,” he tweeted.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer commented in Deepti’s favour on Twitter. “It’s actually quite simple. Ball comes into play when bowler starts run up. From that moment on as a batter or non striker you've to keep your eyes on the ball, if you’re a bit careless, opposition will get you out. And you can get out at either ends.”
The wording of MCC Law 41.16.1 says, “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.”
“In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is put down by the bowler throwing the ball at the stumps or by the bowler’s hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered.”