New Delhi: The spirit of the game again came into question in a Pakistan domestic league game when Peshawar fast bowler Taj Wali decided to mankad non-striker Mohammad Irfan, which turned out to be the winning wicket.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) needed four runs with one wicket in hand when Peshwar’s Taj caught non-striker Irfan off guard. Irfan was marginally out of his crease and was not even given a warning by the fielding side before he was mankaded, reported ESPNcricinfo.
The on field umpires Ahmed Shahab and Faisal Afridi had no choice but to give Irfan out according to the laws of the game, which again sparked off the debate of the legitimacy of the mankad rule.
"What's the point of this law when the winning team isn't proud and ashamed instead?" Butt told ESPNcricinfo. "We had a great game, fully competitive throughout four days, which saw both teams' fortunes fluctuate. And suddenly this mankading spoiled it. Sportsman spirit should have been the top priority but the game didn't end in a proper way. What's the point of this law when the opponent team despite winning apologises to us?"
According to the rules, a batsman cannot venture out of his crease till the bowler has released the ball and if he does, the bowler has the right to mankad him, provided he has not completed his full bowling action before he approaches to dislodge the bails.
It is named after Indian opening batsman Vinoo Mankad, who ran out Australian non striker Bill Brown for venturing out of the crease.
In one of the most recent incidents, West Indies U-19 player Keemo Paul affected a mankad to claim the last wicket of Zimbabwe that took the West Indies to the U-19 World Cup quarterfinal in 2016. West Indies were the eventual winners, beating India in the final.