As the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is just around the corner, the debate over Mankading took the center stage once again, with several cricketers sharing their thoughts on the same. Ricky Ponting, the Delhi Capitals’ coach, who earlier said that will have a word with Ashwin and will see that no one Mankads, has now taken a u-turn on his statements.
On Wednesday, Ricky Ponting said that he agrees with R Ashwin’s point of view that if a player at the non-striker’s end stepped too many steps out of the crease, it can be viewed as cheating.
Well, in interaction with R Ashwin on the latest episode of the off-spinners Youtube chat show ‘Hello Dubaiahh’, Ricky Ponting said that trying to sneak in a couple of runs by pinching a couple of yards is cheating.
When R Ashwin asked Ricky Ponting for his thoughts on the matter, Ponting said that he understands where he is coming from and that rules need to be enforced on players. He said:
“I get where you’re coming from. If the batsman is cheating and trying to pinch a couple of yards, we’ve got to find a way around to make the batsmen stop cheating. I don’t want to see anyone run 2-3 yards down the wicket, because that basically is cheating,”
Furthermore, Ricky Ponting also backed R Ashwin’s idea of introducing run penalty. He stated that a run penalty should be enforced at the earliest in order to prevent non-strikers from gaining an unfair advantage. He said:
“I think there should be some sort of run penalty. If you get to the top of your bowling action and stop, and it shows that the batsman is cheating, I think put a run penalty on him. And do it right from the start because that’ll stop him straight away,”
He added:
“Imagine taking 10 runs off a team total because you’ve gone a yard out of your crease. These sorts of things need to be looked at.”
Meanwhile, the 13th edition of Indian Premier League kicks off from September 19th, and R Ashwin and his Delhi Capitals squad will look to win their maiden title in the UAE.
