“To Hell With The Spirit Of The Game, It Is A Rule”: Hardik Pandya Bashes Self-Appointed Custodians Of Cricket Over Mankading Debate

Hardik Pandya, the premiere Indian all-rounder, recently expressed his opinions on the hotly contested non-striker run-outs. The International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier this year deemed the dismissal method—previously known as “Mankad”—to be fair according to the rules of the game.

Recently, Deepti Sharma came under the hammer for ‘mankading’ Charlie Dean during the third ODI against England Women at Lord’s, despite the fact that it was made legal by the ICC.

In men’s cricket, bowlers have alerted hitters when they go outside of the crease. Instead of running the batters out, pacers like Mitchell Starc and Deepak Chahar admonished them. Since no captain has endorsed the most recent method of dismissal during the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022, cricket is yet to fully adopt it.

Pandya asserted in the ICC Review that the game must accept the reality that non-strikers can run out if they are outside the crease:

“We need to stop making a fuss about this running out the non-striker. It is a rule, as simple as that. To hell with the spirit of the game, if it is there, it is there. Personally, I have no problem with it. If I am out of my crease, and someone runs me out, it is fine. It is my mistake.”

Non-striker end run-outs have not occurred thus far in the ongoing T20 World Cup. The competition still has a long way to go, though.

Pandya will be next seen in action during Team India’s match against the Netherlands on October 27 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).