Whether you agree with Ravichandran Ashwin ‘mankading’ Jos Buttler or not, the fear that he’s instilled in batsmen after the incident is the reason why Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were able to beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the last-ball thriller. Don’t agree with it? Let’s look at the things a little closely.
On the last ball of the match on April 21, MS Dhoni was beaten by Umesh’s Yadav slower one. The CSK skipper and Shardul Thakur obviously went for a single nonetheless to tie the match, but the latter was caught short of the crease by wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.
The non-strikers are much more cautious than they were used to before the controversial episode. If you watched the match closely, non-striker Thakur’s bat was still in the crease before Umesh bowled the final delivery. In a pre-Ashwin-mankading-Buttler era, Thakur would have had a headstart over Parthiv and would have completed a single without breaking a sweat.
The small details can make a huge impact in a game of cricket. Ashwin was bashed left, right and center in the name of ‘spirit of cricket’ even though he was going by the book. Recently, Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Shikhar Dhawan trolled him for doing something similar.
There were many on Twitter who credited Ashwin for this change:
Screen-grabs that show exactly how the last ball of #RCBvCSK panned out. The Mankad after-effect. A couple of inches *do* matter. And why R Ashwin was right all along. (via @Reddit_Cricket) pic.twitter.com/qLuqA8OBuH
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) April 22, 2019
Totally!
@ashwinravi99 Changed the way cricket will be played in IPL.
There was easy run if Shradul had taken off earlier.— aryan (@NotOut17) April 22, 2019
With money influencing cricket like never before, finally the Mankad has become a legitimate weapon in a bowler’s arsenal. Backing up early is cheating. It can steal a tight game. @CraigByron1
— JP05 (@Jim_P_05) April 22, 2019
@lionsdenkxip evidence that Ashwin was right.
— Rahul Sharma (@RS_295) April 23, 2019
Asking questions
On point… @ICC hope you got your answers now
— Nirmal Choudary (@NirmalChoudary) April 22, 2019
Calling him out
@DaleSteyn62 u were mocking ashwin on twitter other day, had thakur taken early lead in the name of spirit of game,results would have been different and u would have ended on wrong side. #RCBvCSK
— Ajay Dhami (@AjayDhami11) April 22, 2019
What say Shane Warne, Michael Vaughan?
Backing up early is Just Cheating.. @ShaneWarne Hope you admit it now Mr. Warnie.. @MichaelVaughan too .. See how an Indian fancied himself not be in wrong side. .
— Paul Dilton (@DiltonPaul17) April 23, 2019
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