'I am calling the batsman back' - Buttler, Moeen speak out on non-striker run-out for backing up
The cricket world was once again in a debate as to whether running out the non-striker for backing up is fair. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali have presented their views, and they do not favour it.
FollowEnglish white-ball skipper Jos Buttler and his deputy Moeen Ali have stated that running out a non-striker for backing up is not "their thing" and that they would instead call the batter back if any of their teammates performed the mode of dismissal. Guardians of the cricketing laws, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) recently reaffirmed that running out a non-striker while backing up is within the rules of the game. However, the debate on its righteousness continues in the aftermath of the third and final women's One-Day International (ODI) game between India and England, where off-spinner Deepti Sharma ran out Charlie Dean similarly to complete a clean sweep for her visiting side.
"No, I am calling the batsman back," the 32-year-old Buttler told TalkSPORT. Incidentally, in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL), Buttler was at the receiving end of the same mode of dismissal. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener was run-out for backing up by veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was playing for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) at the time.
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"No one wants to see them in the game because they always create a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball and watching great cricket games. They always seem to happen at unsavoury times," felt Buttler. Meanwhile, Moeen, the stand-in skipper in their ongoing Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Pakistan, mirrored matching views: "No, it's not my thing."
"I don't think I'll ever do it unless I was angry with someone. It's in the laws, and there's nothing illegal, so people that do it have the right, but I hope it doesn't become a common thing or something that's regularly done. You are not working on getting a wicket. At least with a run-out, there's a bit of work that has to be done and with all the other dismissals. It is just waiting for the guy and taking the bails off. Even when I played cricket as a kid in the garden, it was not my thing to do."
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The 'Mankad' mode of dismissal is nowadays listed in the MCC's 'Unfair Play' section of the laws (41.16.1) and will be moved to the 'Run Out' section from October 1, with an update to the ICC Playing Conditions coming into effect. "Whilst [the dismissal] was an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more," the MCC said earlier.
"Where one person sees the bowler as breaching the Spirit in such examples, another will point at the non-striker gaining an unfair advantage by leaving their ground early," MCC's statement added. While Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has said that they committed "no crime", Deepti, on her arrival in Kolkata, told reporters that Dean was "warned" after repeatedly backing up at the non-striker's end. English captain Heather Knight, who did not participate in the series, later shot back and accused Deepti of "lying".
(With inputs from PTI)
