In the eighth match of IPL 2023, Rajasthan Royals’ bowler Ravichandran Ashwin was seen ‘Mankading’ against Punjab Kings’ captain Shikhar Dhawan. This incident took place in the sixth over of the match. However, Ashwin did not run out the non-striker Punjab captain. Ashwin has done ‘Mankading’ several times before this incident. He had previously ‘Mankaded’ against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2023.
Let me tell you that Ashwin was about to bowl the third ball of the sixth over, but he saw that Shikhar had slightly stepped out of the non-striker’s end, and he did not deliver the ball. He could have run out Punjab’s captain if he wanted to, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave a warning to Shikhar Dhawan and let him off.
Whereas, when Ashwin had run out Jos Buttler through ‘mankading’ in the IPL, it had caused quite a stir. At that time, Ashwin was the captain of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Buttler was a part of the Rajasthan team. Now, both of them are playing for the same team – Rajasthan.
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson, after winning the toss, said, “We would like to bowl here. Expect some dew. We will make use of this opportunity and bowl first. This is a great idea by the franchise. It’s likable. Players have adapted to the conditions. We will play with the old playing eleven. Jaiswal and Parag have learned a lot from experienced players.”
Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan said, “We all know that there is dew. We also wanted to bowl first. Okay, it’s fine. We are okay with it. Not putting too much pressure on ourselves. The process is important. Playing eleven is the same as the last match. RR is a very good side. They are playing good cricket. We want to give our best.”