Moral high ground or team's victory? Ashwin gives his verdict on 'mankading' | ODI World Cup 2023

Days before the Asia Cup 2023 gets underway, the controversial 'mankading' has come to the fore again with Pakistan's Shadab Khan being run-out at the non-striker's end by Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.

India's Ravinchandran Ashwin, who is a vocal supporter of the run-out, has penned a 270-word post on the contentious dismissal.

With the ODI World Cup beginning weeks after the conclusion of Asia Cup, Ashwin wondered, 'Imagine someone running out kohli, Rohit , Smith , Root or any crucial batter at the non strikers in the World Cup semi final or a crunch game which will decide qualification. '

He stated that all hell will break loose adding that there will be a character assassination campaign by some experts who still don’t agree with it and of course fans that are on the receiving end.

According to Ashwin, even though some teams are saying that they will not follow this rule in the World Cup, they should be ready for the teams that will take advantage of this rule.

'I really hope everyone is ready for it cos taking a moral high stand and saying we won’t do it, should open a strategic window for the other teams and genuinely teams should take every single advantage coming their way cos winning a World Cup is a lifetime achievement,' the 36-year-old wrote.

He concluded by saying that the batters should stay inside the crease till the ball has left the bowler's hand and stay in peace.

'Mankading' or as it is now known officially, run-out at the non-striker's end is a controversial dismissal in cricket that has the fraternity divided.

According to the ICC rule, a batter cannot leave the crease till the ball has been released by the bowler.

If they do so, the bowler is allowed to knock the bails off, thus running out the batter at the non-striker's end.