Ravichandran Ashwin has been a big advocate of the ‘Mankad’ dismissal or the run-out at the non-striker’s end. He was involved in yet another incident from the ongoing second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Early on in Day 1 of the second Test against Australia, being played in the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, India’s spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin and Australia’s top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne tried to unsettle each other with mind games.
In the 19th over of the Australian innings, Ravichandran Ashwin stopped in his delivery stride after spotting Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne standing way out of his crease at the non-striker’s end. Ashwin stared at the Australia batter before returning to bowl again. Labuschagne, on the other hand, stood behind the stumps for the next delivery, trying to toy with the experienced spinner’s mind.
Here are some videos of the incident:
Huge Drama Marnus Labuschagne stood behind the stumps when R Ashwin tried Mankad Run out#indvsaus #INDvsAUSTest #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/evwsZi7qmW
— Subhankar Roy (@Cricketsuvo) February 17, 2023
Ashwin returned with three wickets in first innings of Delhi Test
Ashwin has always been vocal about his stance on the infamous ‘Mankad’ dismissal. Notably, while playing for the Punjab franchise in the Indian T20 League, he dismissed Rajasthan’s Jos Butler in the same manner in 2019.
Among the two players involved in today’s incident, Ashwin had the last laugh as he dismissed Labuschagne leg before in the 23rd over. The right-handed batter walked off, scoring just 18 off 25 deliveries, marking Ashwin’s 700 wickets in first-class cricket. Ashwin picked up two more wickets in wicketkeeper batter Alex Carry and the dangerous Steve Smith.
He returned with figures of 3-57 in 21 overs as Australia were bowled out for 263 within 79 overs. Mohammed Shami remained the pick of the bowlers as he picked up four in his 14.4 overs, conceding 60 runs. Ravindra Jadeja came in handy again, picking up three in his 21 overs while conceding 68 runs. Peter Khawaja, with 81 off 125 and Peter Handscomb, with 72 off 142, were the notable contributors for the Aussies.
