The Mankading Debate — Ashwin Runs Out Buttler at Non-Striker's End

The dismissal known as "Mankading" — the bowler running out the non-striker who has left the crease before the ball is bowled — has carried moral baggage for seventy years. The mode is named after the Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, who twice ran out Australian batsman Bill Brown at the non-striker's end during India's 1947-48 tour of Australia. Don Bradman, in his autobiography, defended Mankad's actions as entirely within the Laws and pointed out that Mankad had warned Brown the first time. The Australian press disagreed, the dismissal acquired Mankad's name, and a stigma attached itself to a perfectly legal mode of dismissal that has never fully lifted.

By 2019, the Laws of Cricket made clear that the non-striker who left their crease before the ball was delivered could be run out by the bowler. The MCC's revisions in 2017 had moved the dismissal to a slightly later moment in the bowler's action — defining the latest point at which the bowler "would normally be expected" to release the ball — to give batsmen a clearer signal of when they were at risk. But the cultural understanding lagged far behind the legal one. Most international captains regarded the dismissal as something one warned about and did not actually use, and most coaches taught their batsmen to back up freely.

R. Ashwin, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner captaining Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019, took a different view. He had publicly argued for years that Mankading was an entirely legitimate dismissal and that batsmen who left the crease early were the ones gaining unfair advantage. The IPL season opening at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on 25 March 2019 — Kings XI Punjab versus Rajasthan Royals — would give him the opportunity to act on that view in front of a live global audience.

Rajasthan Royals were chasing 185 to win. Jos Buttler, opening, was in the form of his life — at one point batting at 69 from 43 balls and looking certain to win the match for the Royals. Ashwin, struggling to contain him, switched ends. In the 13th over Ashwin came in to bowl, and Buttler, as he had done all night, began to walk out of his crease as Ashwin entered his delivery stride.

What happened next has been viewed millions of times. Ashwin reached the popping crease, did not release the ball, paused with his arm raised, waited for Buttler to leave the crease completely, and then whipped the bails off. Square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford referred the decision to the third umpire, who confirmed Buttler had been comfortably out of his ground at the moment the bails came off. Buttler was given out. He stood at the crease for several seconds, mouthed something at Ashwin, and walked off in visible fury.

Rajasthan Royals lost 7 wickets for 56 runs after Buttler's dismissal and lost the match by 14 runs. The cricket result was a footnote within minutes; the global conversation was about whether what Ashwin had done was legal, whether it was sporting, and whether the two questions were even the same.

During an IPL 2019 match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin noticed Royals batsman Jos Buttler backing up too far at the non-striker's end. Instead of delivering the ball, Ashwin removed the bails with Buttler out of his crease, effecting a run-out. The dismissal, while entirely legal under Law 41.16, ignited a massive global debate.

Critics, including many former players and England supporters, argued the dismissal violated the "spirit of cricket" and that Ashwin should have warned Buttler first. Ashwin and his supporters countered that the batsman was gaining an unfair advantage by leaving his crease early, and that warning a player before enforcing a legitimate dismissal was patronizing and illogical. The debate divided along predictable lines, with some viewing Mankading as sharp practice and others seeing it as a legitimate and necessary enforcement of the rules.

The MCC, which had long sent mixed messages about the practice, eventually moved it from "unfair play" to "run out" in the laws of cricket in 2022, effectively normalizing it. The debate, however, continued. The term "Mankading" itself was criticized by Indian commentators as being unfairly associated with Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad, who had dismissed Bill Brown at the non-striker's end in 1947-48 after warning him. The ICC eventually discouraged use of the term in favor of "non-striker run out."

“I don't think there is any need for a warning. The non-striker leaving the crease is gaining an unfair advantage.”

“Disappointed people think this is OK. The integrity of the game is in your hands as players.”

“On reflection, this was not within the Spirit of Cricket because of the pause.”

“I was always uncomfortable with that mode of dismissal being called Mankaded. Welcome the rule changes.”

“Disgraceful from Ashwin. Disgraceful.”

The MCC's first statement on the night of the match was unequivocal: the dismissal was legal under the Laws of Cricket, the bowler was not required to give a warning, and there was no fault in Ashwin's action. Within 48 hours the MCC issued a second statement saying that on closer review of the footage they did not think the dismissal had been within the Spirit of Cricket — specifically because Ashwin had paused after entering his delivery stride and waited for Buttler to leave the crease, rather than completing his action in a normal rhythm and dismissing him as the natural consequence.

The second statement satisfied no one. Ashwin pointed out that the Laws specified the latest moment at which the bowler could expect to release the ball, and he had acted within that moment. Former players divided sharply along generational and national lines: Sachin Tendulkar said he was uncomfortable with the dismissal even being called Mankading; Shane Warne called Ashwin's act "disgraceful"; Brad Hogg defended Ashwin entirely. Buttler tweeted "Disappointed people think this is OK" and the matter rumbled across cricket media for weeks.

Cricket Australia's national selectors stayed conspicuously silent, mindful that Australia's own Steve Smith had recently returned from Sandpapergate suspension. Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton said the dismissal had broken the "trust" between players. Kings XI Punjab won the immediate news cycle but lost most of the moral cycle that followed. Ashwin himself never wavered: in subsequent IPL seasons and for India in white-ball cricket, he continued to dismiss non-strikers who left the crease, and within three years his original position had become the sport's official one.