New Delhi, Oct 8: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has been one of the staunch critics of the use of the term "Mankading" for he believes it is an insult to one of India's greatest cricketers late Vinoo Mankad.
Mankad ran Bill Brown out at the non-striker's end for backing up too far during a Test match between India and Australia in 1948. While Australian captain Sir Donald Bradman had declared that Mankad was perfectly right and acted within the rules, the media Down Under of that era referred to the dismissal as "Mankading".
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The legendary batsman put things in perspective as to why it is so legitimately objectionable to say 'Mankading' when a bowler runs the non-striker out for leaving the crease before the ball is being delivered.
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"I don't know about it being deliberately ingrained in us but out of all the so-called unsportsmanlike acts on the cricket field, this mode of dismissal is the only one that has been given a name.
"With all the talk about doing away with terms like 'Chinaman' and 'French cut' because it's politically incorrect, it's about time this disparaging term is dumped in the bin too," he told PTI.
Gavaskar also lauded senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who gave a warning to Aaron Finch for backing up too far during an IPL 2020 match between Delhi Capitals and RCB but also made it clear that he wouldn't spare the batsman the next time.
"Ashwin is one of the most astute of cricketers. By this gesture, he has shown respect and regard to his coach Ricky Ponting, who has expressed his displeasure at this sort of dismissal.
"However, he has also announced publicly that this is the final warning and if from now on anybody strolls out of his crease then he should be prepared to walk back to the dug-out," he concluded.