A second incident in the first week of the IPL involving a bowler running out a batsman before delivering the ball was averted after Mumbai Indians’ Krunal Pandya decided not to break the stumps after Kings XI Punjab batsman Mayank Agarwal, the non-striker, had left the crease before the ball the released.
The incident occurred in the 10th over of the Kings XI innings. Agarwal was on 19 at the point and would go on to make an explosive 43 off 21 balls to inject momentum into Kings XI’s chase, after the hosts had made just 38 runs in Powerplay. Kings XI were 80 for 1 at that point, and by the time Agarwal departed, the target had come down to 60 runs from 39 balls.
As per the IPL playing conditions as well as Law 41.16, Krunal had the right to run Agarwal out. Although there is no rule to warn the batsman, that’s just convention, Krunal opted to just let Agarwal hop back into the crease after having been exposed.
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Moments later the broadcaster zoomed the camera towards Kings XI captain R Ashwin. On Monday, playing in Jaipur against Rajasthan Royals, Ashwin had run Jos Buttler out. His actions had generated a massive debate on social media and elsewhere with several players, past and present, criticising Ashwin for hurting the Spirit of Cricket. The MCC, the custodians of the Laws, initially cleared Ashwin of any wrongdoing, but a day later reviewed that call, saying the offspinner had “paused” too long before releasing the ball, something not “within” the spirit of cricket.
When Mumbai bowling coach Shane Bond was asked by commentator Brendon McCullum on air if Krunal’s action was engaging in “gamesmanship”, the former said, “Just a subtle dig, mate, at the Mankad (Former India captain had carried out this form of dismissal for the first time in cricket in 1946 Test against Australia).”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo