Sachin Tendulkar weighs in on 'Spirit of Cricket' debate: 'Whatever you play within the rules...'
Sachin Tendulkar has provided his opinion on the debate raging around the ‘Spirit of cricket’ and whether running a player out at the non-striker's end for backing up too far, or ‘Mankading’, comes under it.
The debate around India's Deepti Sharma running out England's Charlotte Dean during the third ODI between India Women and England Women in Lord's cricket ground continues to rage on almost a month since it happened. The latest to opine on the controversy surrounding the much publicised runout is former India captain Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar seems to defend Deepti over her decision to runout England's Dean at the non-striker's end when she had stepped out before the ball was bowled. Courtesy Dean's dismissal, India had done a clean sweep over England in the series although the latter was threatening to lead an unlikely comeback in the run chase with a last-wicket stand. It thus helped India give a memorable farewell to veteran fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who retired from international cricket after the match.
"She was playing to what the laws of the game are," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
"It is a rule now. If a player is short of the crease or doesn’t make the crease, then the batter is given out, right? Just like he misses a ball that’s heading toward stumps and in line of the stumps, he is given out lbw. So the ICC has introduced the rule that if you are out of the crease (before the ball is bowled), then you are run out," added the former India batter.
The 49-year-old further defined what he understood by the spirit of cricket- a term which was used to condemn Deepti's actions.
"Whatever you are playing within the rules of the game, that is spirit of cricket," Tendulkar explained.
Earlier, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had moved the run-out at the non-striker's end from Law 41 'Unfair Play' to Law 38 'Run Out'. The change came into effect from October 1, 2022, clarifying and placing the responsibility on batters to ensure that they didn't leave the crease before the release of the ball.