Mankad dismissal causes IPL outrage

India spin star Ravi Ashwin has been labeled "disgraceful" after his "low act" to 'Mankad' England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler in an IPL match between the Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Japiur.

Steve Smith scored 20 on his IPL return but his comeback was completely overshadowed by the controversial Mankad dismissal that has divided the cricket world.  

Smith, whose year-long international suspension following the ball tampering scandal in South Africa expires this week, came to the crease for the Royals amidst a firestorm with a furious Buttler departing after he was mankaded by Ashwin.

The England star had looked in imperious touch, scoring 69 from 43 balls as the hosts looked well on course to chase down their target of 185.

But Ashwin, the Kings XI captain, then became only the second player in IPL history to run out a player who was backing up, and a furious Buttler was forced to depart the scene with the pair exchanging angry words as he exited the field.

Side-on vision appeared to show Buttler still in his crease as Ashwin passed the stumps, with Ashwin halting his delivery stride and waiting for Buttler – who had eyes on the striking batsman – to move out of his crease before breaking the stumps.

While Buttler, Ashwin and the umpire had a heated discussion, the twitter world lit up, with Royals mentor Shane Warne vehemently outspoken and calling on the BCCI to sanction their spin-bowling Test star.

Royals coach Paddy Upton exchanged words with Ashwin as the two sides shook hands after the match, causing the Kings XI captain to whip around in a look of shock. It is unclear what was said then but Upton did not mince words at the post-match press conference.

"I think R Ashwin's actions tonight speak for him and represent him. When I looked in the eyes of his teammates I'm not sure if it represented his teammates," Upton said.

"I think we'll leave it up to the IPL fans to decide if that's the kind of thing they want to see and we'll leave it up to the cricket world to judge Ashwin's actions tonight."

"On my part it was very instinctive and it was not planned or anything like that," Ashwin said after the game.

"It is there in the rules of the game. I don't know where the understanding of the spirit of the game comes from because quite naturally if it's there in the rules, it's there.

"So probably the rules need to go back and be sorted."

It is the second time Buttler has been the subject of a Mankad dismissal after he was out in the same fashion during a 2014 ODI against Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake, who had previously warned him. 

It was in mid 2016 when Buttler accepted fault for the dismissal, despite his initial protests and vehement reaction from the Edgbaston crowd.

"It is obviously batsman error," Buttler said in 2016. "If you walk out of your ground and someone wants to do it, it is in the Laws of the game. It is all part of the game. 

"I was disappointed at the time, because it doesn't happen very often. I thought you could do that every ball if you wanted and there would be a chance to run someone out.

"But the bowler would say why don't you just stay in your crease? So I guess I did learn something from it."

The Mankad is as controversial as ever. In early 2016 at the Under-19 World Cup, the West Indies bowler Keemo Paul executed a Mankad to dismiss a Zimbabwe batsman that helped his side secure a narrow but vital win.

The decision handed the Windies a two-run win and a spot in the quarter-finals, while it also ended Zimbabwe's tournament, and saw the team of teenagers labelled "absolutely disgraceful" by the cricket world. 

West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer stood by the decision to claim the Mankad.

"I would say yes, cricket is a game of uncertainties. We've seen it happen in cricket before. It's not a big deal for us," Hetmyer said.

"It's probably not in the spirit of the game, but we’re happy to have won."

The Mankad is covered by cricket's Law 41.16.1 (Non-striker leaving his/her ground early) which was updated in 2017 and is set for a further clarification when a new code of laws is updated on April 1.

The Law states: "If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out. In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is put down by the bowler throwing the ball at the stumps or by the bowler's hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered."

The MCC's Laws manager Fraser Stewart took to social media to clarify. 

Back in Jaipur, Smith came to the crease with his right arm heavily strapped following recent elbow surgery and looked understandably rusty at the start of his innings, scoring three runs from the first three balls.

He then only managed a single from back-to-back free hits following two no balls from Ankit Rajpoot before finding his range by clubbing Sam Curran for a boundary and a six in successive deliveries.

But Smith failed to get enough power on another attempted big hit off Curran – who went for 52 runs from his four overs – and fell to a brilliant running catch on the boundary by KL Rahul.

Curran than dismissed Sanju Samson for 30 two balls later to add some respectability to his match figures as the Royals lost six wickets for 14 runs to fall well short of their target, eventually losing by 14 runs.

Veteran West Indies opener Chris Gayle had earlier laid the foundation for the victory with a typically aggressive innings of 79 from 47 deliveries as the Kings posted a score of 4-184.