Amid the ongoing Mankading debate, the veteran Indian spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin has come up with a unique idea of saying that there should be a ”free ball” for bowlers just like ”free hit” exists for the batsmen. The batting team receives a free hit is awarded to the batting side when a bowler bowls a no-ball. After the no-ball, the subsequent delivery is called ”free hit” and on that delivery, the batsman cannot be dismissed on that delivery other than run out.

Ashwin said there should be a “free ball” if the non-striking batsman leaves the crease before the ball is bowled. Also, if the batsman gets out on the “free ball”, batting side “will be docked five runs.”

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Tweeting about the same, Ashwin wrote: “Make it a free ball for the bowler. If the batsmen get out of that ball, the batting team will be docked 5 runs. Free hit adds to the drama for a batter, let’s give a chance to the bowlers too. As of now, everyone watches the game hoping that ”the bowlers will get smacked today”.”

Make it a free ball for the bowler. If the batsmen gets out of that ball, the batting team will be docked 5 runs. Free hit adds to the drama for a batter, let’s give a chance to the bowlers too. As of now everyone watches the game hoping that ‘the bowlers will get smacked today’ https://t.co/BxX8IsMgvF

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) August 24, 2020

The Mankading discussion started when the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting said he will talk to Ashwin about not resorting to Mankad in the upcoming season of the cash-rich league. Last year, Ravichandran Ashwin had Mankad Buttler when  the latter was doundthe batsman went out from his crease. The dismissal sparked a huge debate on social media as to whether the dismissal is in the spirit of the game or not. In the 2020 edition of the IPL, Ashwin will represent Delhi Capitals.

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Talking about the same, during a Podcast, Ponting said, “I will be having a chat with him about Mankad, that’s the first thing I’ll do. Obviously, he wasn’t in our squad last year, he’s one of our players that we tried to bring in this year. Look, he’s a terrific bowler, and he’s done a great job in the IPL for a long period of time now, but I must admit watching that last season, as soon as it happened and he did that, I actually sat our boys down and said — Look, I know he’s done it, there’ll be others around the tournament who’ll think about doing this well but that’s not going to be the way that we play our cricket.”