The spirit of the game is with the runner: ICC match referee Javagal Srinath

Former Indian cricketer Javagal Srinath opened up about the Mankading, a rule that is under the scanner for a long time now.

Ever since R Ashwin dismissed Jos Buttler in the IPL, the rule had the fans and the players separated.

Now, Srinath had opened up about the rule on Ashwin’s YouTube channel.

“The bowler is focusing on the batsman. For the batsman (at the non-striker’s end) to stick to his crease till the ball is released is no big deal, because he’s not batting, nor is he thinking of anything else.” Srinath told Ashwin on his Youtube show ‘DRS With Ash’.

“So the batsman shouldn’t leave the crease and the bowler should focus on just bowling and the batsman he’s going to bowl to. If the batsman is taking undue advantage, and if he’s involved in a run out, I am fine. I am perfectly okay with that,” Srinath said.

“Don’t look for any empathy. Don’t invoke the spirit of the game. The spirit of the game is with the runner. He cannot move out of the crease. If he is doing it, he’s not invoking the spirit of the game itself. I would believe that the batsman should stick to the crease.

“Even if the batsman has inadvertently left the crease, and it happens to be the last ball of the match where there’s a run-out [chance] with the batsman in by an inch, but he has already taken three foot forward before the ball has been delivered, the result is unfair.

“One of the teams will probably pay for it. I would like to see a balance here. I would want the batsman to stay, be more careful. Look into the arm of the bowler and let himself go only after the ball is released. It cannot be that he’s gaining four to five feet advantage every ball. In T20, every ball matters. How many games go to the last ball?” He concluded.