In any walk of life or profession, nobody wants to lose. Jos Buttler getting mankaded by Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin was the turning point that resulted in Rajasthan Royals losing to the Punjab outfit.
Cricket is a gentlemen’s game, or should I say in modern day that “it used to be gentlemen’s game”. I had the highest regards for R Ashwin.
The game of cricket has its own set of rules and Ashwin was well within his rights to dismiss Jos Buttler the way he did. Mind you, this was not the first time that we saw a batsman getting out in this fashion.
All this happened in a World cup game. West Indies had the chance to win that game only if Courtney Walsh had removed the bail. But being a thorough gentleman that he is, he gave warning to Abdul Qadir and went back to his run up. If Walsh would have taken off the bail, West Indies might have won the match.
But in the end, despite losing the game, Walsh emerged as a hero. This whole incident proves that you can play the game the hard way and continue to be a gentleman at the same time.
The regards I had for Ashwin for all these years I believe doesn’t exist anymore.
As far as Jos Buttler is concerned it was wrong of him also to question and argue with Ashwin and the umpire. Buttler knew that the mistake was on his part and the whole argument and loss of temper made no sense.
Players do tend to get worked up during a match as we have seen when Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth. We did witness heated argument between Kohli and Gambhir. Starc and Pollard also had a go at each other. And Monday night’s incident will only add to it.
After this, I don’t know what Ashwin will do to regain his reputation which he carried in the cricketing world. You may be end up being the highest wicket taker but a mistake like this will always remain as a black spot.
The term ‘Mankading’ is named after one of India’s cricketing legend Vinoo Mankad, though the Aussie media should be blamed for demeaning the name of Mankad Sahib. I suggest that ICC should rename this word as it will keep coming up again and again in the future as well.
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