Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday once again proved why he is considered to have one of the sharpest minds in the world of cricket. Even as Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya 'probably' looked to "Mankad' him, the former India skipper outsmarted the bowler by keeping his bat inside the return crease.
Bowling to Kedar Jadhav, Mumbai all-rounder Krunal Pandya stopped in his stride and turned to walk to his bowling run-up. While it wasn't clear from the move if Pandya was looking to just warn Dhoni or wanted to 'Mankad' him, the CSK captain had already outsmarted him by staying in the crease.
'Mankading' has stolen the spotlight in recent times after Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler without warning him during their opening game of the season.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar who was in the commentary box applauded Dhoni and said: "Right instincts for Dhoni. The bat was inside, the ball was in the scene. He does most things right, just out of instincts. With Dhoni, very rarely will you see him do something that is incorrect."
Last week, Krunal warned Mayank Agarwal during MI's game against Kings XI Punjab even though he had the chance to 'Mankad' the batsman. Close on the heels of the Ashwin-Butler episode, Krunal was praised by former England captain Michael Vaughan. "Respect @krunalpandya24… that's exactly how you deal with a Mankad… Give the Batsman a warning then it's open season after that…#IPL2019," tweeted Vaughan.
The current wording of Law 41.16 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."