The 'Mankading' debate flared up again on Monday after the Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was seen backing up too far outside the crease at the non-strikers' end, even before the ball was bowled. The debate was sparked off in the context of the other half of the same image, where the bowler, Mustafizur Rahman had overstepped and it was called a no-ball. 

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In the 'Gentlemen's game', Mankading is still considered as something against the spirit of the game, despite being in the laws which say that the bowler within his rights to run the batsman out if he is out of his crease to take the run, even before the ball is bowled.

There have been a few famous incidents in the past where after the bowler has run the batsman out, it is considered against the spirit of the game, the most famous being the one where the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ran Buttler out in the 2019 IPL. However, on Monday in Match No 12 of the 2021 edition of the IPL between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, most of the experts weighed in on why 'Mankading' shouldn't be considered illegal after all.

During the game, analyst and expert Harsha Bhogle on commentary said, “You cannot be there. He has stolen more than a yard there, Dwayne Bravo.

“That is why I believe you’re entirely within your rights — it should almost be mandatory in team meetings — to say, ‘Run him out’. All this talk about not being in the spirit of the game is so much nonsense. He has taken a yard! I never understood how it is in the spirit of the game to run less and claim the run. That is against the spirit of the game.”

Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad also said that all that talk of 'Mankading' being against the spirit of the game' is a joke.

Here are some of the reactions: