Batsmen ruled out

R Ashwin is out of luck. Had he been the first to do what he did — Mankading a batsman, which is running him out at the non-striker’s end if he (the batsman) goes beyond the popping-crease — the matter would have died down as a peccadillo. In the age of instant cricket, quite an oxymoron, one looks askance at ethical niceties. But Ashwin’s supposed moral infraction (the rules defend his action, though) is getting prominence because more than 70 years ago, our own Vinoo Mankad, considered one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, had done the same thing in Australia, in a series in which the Indians were expected to be mauled and they were. Mankad, in all fairness, had given the Australian batsman a warning that he was going beyond the crease when the Indian spinner was about the send down the ball. He didn’t listen, perhaps in the hope Mankad would go not ahead and do it. What followed was anger all round, and doubts about Mankad’s sportsmanship. However, the matter did not go very far because Bradman weighed in in favour of Mankad.

It is strange that what happened so many years ago is still relevant to a game that had perforce to transform itself under the pressure of those who had never quite liked the game. And it is entirely possible many more cases of amoral, wonky tactics, mimicking extraordinary dismissals that took place decades ago, are waiting to happen. While Ashwin can defend his action by saying he acted when the game was in motion, Sarfraz Nawaz can’t do so. In a Test match, again in Australia, when Andrew Hilditch, the non-striker, picked up the ball and gave it to Nawaz for him to start his run-up, the bowler appealed. The umpire did not believe him and so Nawaz appealed not once but eight times for the umpire to regain his composure and rule the batsman out. This was in early 1979, and perhaps for this reason Asif Iqbal did not pick Nawaz when Pakistan toured India under him (Iqbal) later that year.

But irony was in store for Iqbal. In 1983 in a Test match in Bombay, when Desmond Haynes was given out for handling the ball, and the “offending” bowler who appealed for him to be given out was Kapil Dev, Iqbal was spotted in the gallery. When TV asked him what he would have done, Iqbal’s reply was: “I would have done what Kapil did.” Haynes had edged the ball with his bat and there was a possibility that the ball might have travelled towards the stumps, when he stopped it. But had he stopped it with his leg and not with his hand, there was no way he could have been given out. 

At a time when the umpire’s decision was final there were at least two occasions when their verdicts were reversed to accommodate the wishes of people who were thought to be impeachable. The first was in the West Indies, 1974. Alvin Kalicharran, believed Tony Greig, had started for a single and he ran him out. The crowd thought the batsman had played the last ball of the day and began his long walk towards the pavilion. What Kalicharran thought we do not know but there were questions on Greig’s sporting spirit, also. 

Vivian Richards was Vivian Richards. So he could get away with coercing the umpire into changing his decision in a one-match against India in Nagpur when Dilip Vengaskar was given out. No questions asked! No issues raised!

Dismissals in cricket have been a subject as much of rancour as they have been of humour. But they happened many ages ago. In a county match when W G Grace was bowled, he quietly lifted the bails, put them back on the stumps, and asked the umpire: “It’s windy, isn’t it?” The umpire said: “Hold your cap tight as you walk back to the dressing-room.”

Wilfred Rhodes was, understandably, very hurt when Harold Larwood’s ball hit him on the boot. Umpire Frank Chester, appearing as concerned as he could be, asked, “Willie, are you hurt?” “Aye,” was the reply. “Can you walk?” Chester asked again. “Maybe with some difficulty,” said Rhodes. Chester commanded: “Please walk.” He was out LBW.

In 1987, long after cricket had ceased to be a gentleman’s game, Courtney Walsh proved he was a fine gentleman on the field, and in a World Cup match at that. In Pakistan and against Pakistan, he had a wonderful opportunity to Mankad the last man of the opponent’s innings. He didn’t, and Pakistan won. As a reward for his wonderful gesture, Zia-ul Haq presented him a carpet.

By the way, when and where was the expression “Mankaded” coined? Perhaps it was in Australia. And why just “Mankaded” to the exclusion of all others that might have fitted different situations? Many Australians have acquired fame for their antics on the cricket field.