Will be interesting to see what KXIP coach says on Ashwin ‘Mankading’ Buttler, says Mitchell McClenaghan

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain Ravichandran Ashwin came in under serious criticism after he ‘Mankaded’ Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Jos Buttler during their opening encounter at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday. Bowling the 13th over of the RR’s innings, Ashwin ran Buttler out at the non-striker’s end as the latter left the crease in search of a run, leaving the entire cricketing world stunned.

The English batsman was in a great nick in the game, scoring 69 runs off 43 balls as the RR were chasing the Kings’ score of 184 for 4 in 20 overs. Sanju Samson was on strike when Ashwin chose the ‘backdoor route’ to dismiss Buttler. RR were conveniently placed at 108 for 1 at the time. Buttler was stunned by Ashwin’s act although the Kings skipper had no qualms about his action.

The two were also found making some verbal exchanges before Buttler left the ground. Technically, there was doubt about the dismissal but it is something that is in contradiction with the spirit of the Gentleman’s Game.

Ashwin will regret, feels Morgan

England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan expressed his shock over the incident and he said it was not a great example to be set for youngsters playing the game. He also said in his tweet that Ashwin will regret his act over time. New Zealand bowler Mitchell McClenaghan, who is playing for Mumbai Indians in this IPL and did well against Delhi Capitals on Sunday, said in response to Morgan’s tweet that he will look forward to the press conference of Mike Hesson, who is the coach of Punjab.

McClenaghan said his compatriot Hesson is a man who believes in playing the game in the right spirit and it will interesting to see how he took his captain’s controversial action on the ground.

Looking forward to the press conference with Hess, a coach who built his reign with NZ on playing cricket in the right spirit…

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) March 25, 2019

pic.twitter.com/oNojOS3VYZ

— DRV (@OyePKMKB) March 25, 2019

The word ‘Mankading’ comes after the name of famous Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad who was the first bowler to dismiss a batsman (Bill Brown) in this manner during India’s tour of Australia in 1947. There have been some instances of ‘Mankading’ in international cricket and both Ashwin and Buttler have been part of such bizarre episodes on the ground in the past.

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