Every sport has its ‘professor’ – a player with a reputation for knowing the rulebook by heart and playing the game with unparalleled competitiveness. In cricket, that guy is the veteran Indian spinner, R Ashwin and he showcased why once again on Wednesday as a simple look was enough to have Shikhar Dhawan in a state of panic.
Punjab Kings came out all guns blazing in their league encounter against the Rajasthan Royals at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday as they were cruising at 112/1 after just 12 overs. While Prabsimran Singh played a blitzkrieg knock of 60 off just 34 deliveries, Shikhar Dhawan kept anchoring the innings along on the other end with largely run-a-ball innings.
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However, the PBKS skipper nearly met a humiliating end to his stay at the crease in the seventh over of the game courtesy of a wily Ravichandran Ashwin. The off-spinner was about to bowl the fourth ball of his second over while Dhawan at the non-striker’s end backed up anticipating a run. Suddenly, Ashwin stopped in his run-up, clearly contrary to Dhawan’s expectation, and turned back to return to his mark.
However, while doing so, R Ashwin silently glanced at the crease where Dhawan was supposed to be but had overstepped the mark before the bowler had turned his shoulder. The opener was visibly panicked by the sudden sequence of events.
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Notably, Ashwin has previously ran out a batter at the non-striker’s end on a couple of occasions, including once in the IPL in 2019 when he was incidentally playing for the Punjab Kings. Jos Buttler was dismissed by the bowler using the unconventional method and was visibly angry afterward, leading to an entire saga around the rule which has since been given further validation by the game’s governing bodies. No wonder then that the cameras immediately panned to the English skipper who was stationed at the boundary line after the incident albeit Buttler betrayed no expression.
Here is the video of the incident:
— WPL MAHARASTRA (@WMaharastra) April 5, 2023
Nevertheless, it did not keep the Twiteratti from going berserk with reactions on the social media platform.
Imagine showing Fairplay Award list just after Ashwin gives a warning for Mankad to Dhawan and people still think that it's normal now.#RRvsPBKS #PBKSvsRR
— PV (@JustStopIt_PV) April 5, 2023
How would Buttler have reacted if Ashwin had done that "Mankad" to Shikhar Dhawan.@josbuttler @ashwinravi99#RRvPBKS #RoyalsFamily #RajasthanRoyals #DilSeRoyal #HallaBol #TATAIPL #IPL2023
— Bobby Kalal (@RRloyalroyal) April 5, 2023
R Ashwin tried to do Mankad and camera man showed Jos Buttler face right after that was the best moment 😂#PBKSvsRR
— Snehil (@snehil49) April 5, 2023
Ashwin didn't Mankad bcos he is playing tuk tuk #RRvPBKS
— Shinzou Wo Sasageyo (@hmm_er) April 5, 2023
Ashwin warns Dhawan about Mankad
And the camera man shows the Buttler Ash case of Mankad 😄😄#RRvPBKS #IPL2023— Khan!!!!! (@Im_the_proble_) April 5, 2023
Ravichandran Ashwin warned to mankad (run-out) Shikhar Dhawan at non-striker's end#RRvPBKS #RRvsPBKS #PBKSvsRR #PBKSvRR pic.twitter.com/fMEmNeApaD
— Gurkanwal Singh (@00gurkanwal00) April 5, 2023
Ravichandran Ashwin attempts a mankad and the cameraman immediately show Jos Buttler 😭😭😭😭😭
— Kaushik Ram (@KaushikRam25) April 5, 2023
Loved it how Ashwin was going for a mankad nd after 0.1 sec. The camera was on Jos Buttler😮💨😮💨
— Jainesh (@HakunaRatanTata) April 5, 2023
RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN once again stopped to try to mankad SHIKAR DHAWAN but didn't attempt it
Cameraman at that immediately showed JOS BUTTLER at the big screen 😂#RRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/gq7slzzZFf— Farooq Alam (@AlamFAR786) April 5, 2023
