Cricket News: Mitchell Starc's 'ManKad' attempt shows why no one can win this debate anymore
On Day Four of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa, Mitchell Starc did something that ended up getting many people talking – and not for the right reasons.
Mitchell Starc threatened Theunis de Bruyn with 'Mankad'.When Starc was bowling, he pulled out of his run up and fired a verbal salvo at non-striker Theunis de Bruyn, who had wandered too far down his crease for the bowler's liking.
The gist of the exchange was Starc telling De Bruyn to stay within his crease, adding that 'it's not so hard to stay behind the line'.
Starc's actions, while not morally or ethically wrong, have once again brought back the debate over whether or not running out the non-striker – colloquially referred to as 'Mankading' after Vinoo Mankad, who used this mode of dismissal in Australia ironically – is right or wrong.
Let's first look at it in two ways – what is it that the letter of the law says, and what about the whole 'spirit of the game' arguments?
For one, the law is clear that running out a non-striker is legal. It has been made as such in the latest rule update, so it is no longer seen as an 'unfair play' as it was in the past.
As for the ethical debate? It shouldn't be around in the first place, given sport is governed by the word of law and not the ethics of a few. But even so, let's indulge in this for fairness.
Those who talk about the spirit say it is okay to use this mode of dismissal, but only as long as you warn the batsman before doing it.
They say this gives the batsman a chance to mend his ways and is seen as a sporting gesture. Again, the logic has more holes than Swiss cheese, but it still has some degree of rationale.
Yet even the anti-Mankad clan are irritated at the warning. This makes no sense, given Starc did precisely what would be expected from him in terms of the spirit of the game.
He didn't run De Bruyn out; he warned him to stay within the line, and the warning was heeded. No harm, no foul, right? Well… not so much.
For you see, many an Indian fan now felt like Starc was virtue signalling by making his warning loud and clear when, in reality, it isn't something that is needed any longer.
But one thing is obvious – in this debate, there are no longer any winners. It is frustrating to see people argue over the same issue over and over at this point and to no avail.
Here's hoping that, in the future, the idea of dismissing the non-striker with the bowler running him out becomes normalized.
Because otherwise, cricket fans will forever remain divided by this mode of dismissal – even though it is very much in the spirit of the law, and there is, really, no such thing as a spirit of cricket when it comes to enforcing the laws of the game.