IPL 2021: Harsha Bhogle calls for ‘Mankading’ to be made mandatory

Harsha Bhogle, the veteran commentator, has called for ‘Mankading’ to be made mandatory to cut down on the undue advantage in favour of the batsmen. His comments came during the match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

In the first innings, Mustafizur Rahman bowled a no-ball and on replays, it was seen that Dwayne Bravo was almost a yard in front of the bowling crease. On seeing Bravo not in his crease at the point of delivery, Bhogle lashed out came up with the stern words.

The bowler overstepping by a few inches is penalised, but a batsman backing up a few yards isn’t.
The bowler has every right to run out a batsman backing up so far. PERIOD.

Calling it against the spirit of the game is a joke @ICC .#CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/vIHqbe6fWU

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) April 20, 2021

Bhogle stated that ‘Mandaking’ being associated with the ‘Spirit of the Game’ is ‘nonsense’. He reckons that the bowler is well within his/her rights to run the batsman out at the non-striker’s end.

Harsha Bhogle opines

“Look where Bravo is. That is why I believe you’re entirely within your rights…it should almost be mandatory in team meetings to say, run him out. All this talk about not being in the spirit of the game is so much nonsense,” Bhogle was quoted as saying during commentary.

Back in 2019, Ravi Ashwin, who’s currently with the Delhi Capitals (DC), got himself tangled into a controversy after he ran out Jos Buttler. Back then, Ashwin was a part of the Punjab Kings (PBKS), and he was a recipient of severe criticism from the cricket fraternity.

Even before the 2020 IPL, Ricky Ponting, the Capitals’ head coach, stated that he would be having chat with the veteran on the matter. During the tournament, the Tamil Nadu-born Ashwin had a chance to pull off the same, but he refrained from doing so.

As far as Monday’s match is concerned, the Super Kings won by 45 runs and moved to the second position in the points table below the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). After losing the toss and being put in to bat first, CSK managed 188 runs for the loss of nine wickets.

In the second half of the game, Moeen Ali picked up three wickets and broke the backbone of the Royals’ batting unit. Moeen also scored 26 runs off 20 balls with one four and two sixes. Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja also got two wickets.