Mankading a batsman is legal in cricket and also a completely acceptable manner of dismissal. Regardless of the rulebook’s mandate, if a bowler halts his motion midway and clips the bails off, the cricketing community is instantly divided into two spheres.
Mankading is done when a batter moves out of his crease at the bowling end before the bowler has bowled the ball and the said bowler disturbs the stumps. However, one side of the debate is that the batter should be warned before running him/her out. But the other side of the debate says that batters should follow the rules and stay inside the crease at all times.
Ever since Vinoo Mankad ran out Bill Brown on the 1948 India tour of Australia in an FC match, there have been several such instances in all forms of the international game and even in T20 leagues.
Here are the five most memorable Mankading moments in cricket history:
5. Richard Ngrava by Keemo Paul
This instance happened during the U19 World Cup in 2016 in a match between West Indies and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, looking to advance to the quarterfinals, was on the verge of victory, needing only three runs from the last over. However, West Indies remained in the game because Zimbabwe only had one wicket in hand.
Keemo Paul was tasked with defending the target in the last over, but instead, he charged in and dislodged the bails instead of delivering the ball. The batter Richard Ngrava’s bat was out of the crease at the bowling end and he was judged run out. West Indies won the game, but Paul’s actions were severely criticized.
4. Kevin Awino, Rita Musamali, Immaculate Nakisuuyi, and Janet Mbabazi by Maeva Douma
Many matches have seen only one instance of Mankading, but a T20I match between Uganda and Cameroon women saw four batters being run out in this fashion in one inning. This record of four run-outs at the bowling end was made by Cameroon bowler Maeva Douma in a Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Region qualifier in Botswana.
In the 16th over, Douma started by running out Kevin Awino, who had walked out of her crease. When Rita Musamali followed suit three balls later, Douma did the same. Then bowling the final over of the innings, Douma ran out captain Immaculate Nakisuuyi and Janet Mbabazi, who had not learned their lesson and were mankaded.
3. Charlie Dean by Deepti Sharma
In a Women’s ODI at Lord’s in London, India’s Deepti Sharma ran out England’s Charlie Dean in an intense encounter between the two sides in 2022. England was reduced to 118 for nine in their pursuit of 170 in the third ODI, but their chase was led by No. 9 batter Dean, who renewed their hopes with a last-wicket partnership with Freya Davies.
Dean was on 47 and England needed 17 runs to win when India’s Deepti Sharma ran her out for leaving the crease at the bowling end too soon. With this, India also won the match but attracted huge controversy. Deepti later said that she had pointed out to the umpires that Dean was leaving the crease early and warned the batter as well.
2. Jos Buttler by R Ashwin
One of the most famous mankad incidents, which divided the cricket fraternity into two happened during the IPL 2019 in a match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. RR opener, Jos Buttler was run out by bowler and Punjab captain R Ashwin at the bowling end after he had wandered far out of his crease.
A distraught Buttler minced no words as he trudged off the field reluctantly after the umpire adjudged him out mankaded. A closer look at the footage of the event appeared to show Ravichandran Ashwin purposely delaying the ball’s delivery and waiting for Buttler to move out before disturbing the furnishings.
1. Peter Kirsten by Kapil Dev
This mankad incident happened during India’s historic first-ever tour of South Africa in 1992. This incident happened during the second one-dayer of a seven-match ODI series in 1992. South Africa was chasing a modest target of 147 and veteran Peter Kirsten was looking for quick singles to rotate the strike.
India’s Kapil Dev saw that Kirsten was leaving his crease early and gave him two warnings beforehand. But still, Kirsten ventured out of his crease for the third time and eventually bore the consequences of his misadventure as Dev removed the bails without a hitch. Kapil was seen irritated at Kirsten trying to steal a run, while Kirsten walked off mouthing expletives.