Ashwin lets Dhawan off with warning, revokes 'mankading' memories with Buttler: Watch

(L-R) Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Jos Buttler (Pic: AFP)

The controversial mankading incident involving Jos Buttler and Ravichandran Ashwin in IPL 2019 continues to be one of the most talked-about dismissals in the T20 league. With Buttler going firm at 43-ball-69 in Rajasthan Royals' 185-run chase, Ashwin took everyone by surprise after he paused during run-up and nonchalantly dislocated the bails to dismiss Buttler. As per the laws of the game, the third umpire declared the Rajasthan Royals opener out but such a dismissal had always raised eyebrows in the game, perhaps unfairly so. However, as Buttler and Ashwin are now teammates at Royals, the dynamics of their relationship have changed.

Fans witnessed a similar incident on Wednesday when Royals spinner Ashwin paused before his delivery and gave a stare to Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan for backing up too far at the non-striker's end. Dhawan, upon realising he is far from the crease, quickly slid his bat to the mark. Interestingly, Ashwin represented Punjab Kings in 2019, the same edition which had ignited the spirit-of-cricket debate over his never-seen-before dismissal of Buttler at the non-striker's end.

Also Read: IPL 2023: Dhawan, Prabhsimran power Punjab to 197-4 against Rajasthan Royals

As both Ashwin and Dhawan shared a quick smile, the cameras were quick to zoom in at Buttler. The incident took place on the fourth ball of the seventh over of PBKS' innings.

Watch the video below.

What is mankading? What does the law say?

In simplest terms, mankading refers to the act of dismissing a non-striker batter before a bowler completes his delivery by running him out. This form of dismissal is named after former India all-rounder Vinoo Mankad. During the second test of the tour at Sydney, Mankad became a part of one never-ending controversy of world cricket that gave birth to a term called ‘Mankading' when he dismissed Bill Brown at the non-striker's end.

If the non-striker is out of his ground from the moment the ball comes into play, to the instant when the bowler would have normally been expected to release the ball, the bowler is permitted to run him out.

Recently, Indian star all-rounder Deepti Sharma grabbed headlines after running out England's Charlotte Dean at the non-striker's end while she was backing up. Among other Indians, it was Kapil Dev who had mankaded Peter Kirsten of South Africa during the 1992-93 series and Railways' spinner Murali Karthik had also mankaded Sandipan Das of Bengal during a Ranji Trophy match.