“My wife ran away from the ground” - Murali Kartik recalls controversy surrounding 2012 Mankading incident

Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik has revealed that his wife ran away from the ground after he was booed for ‘Mankading’ while playing county cricket for Surrey against his former team Somerset in 2012.

Murali Kartik’s run-out of Alex Barrow at the non-striker’s end during the match in Taunton blew into a major controversy as the crowd vociferously booed the bowler and Surrey captain Gareth Batty. The Indian bowler had warned Barrow earlier in the over for backing up too far before eventually running him out.

Recalling the events surrounding the controversy in 2012, Murali Kartik told Ravichandran Ashwin in a YouTube interaction on the show DRS with Ash:

“My wife ran away from the ground. It was that kind of a threat with the crowd booing and all. They almost entered the dressing room.”

The 44-year-old asserted that he had done nothing wrong back then and would do the same to every batsman if he was still playing.

“In my case, I warned the batsman thrice. They never spoke about that. Despite the warning, they are blaming the bowler. I am ready to run-out all the 11 batsmen if they step out before I deliver the ball," said Murali Kartik.

The former cricketer believed that the incident got blown out of proportion since his former county Somerset were at the receiving end. Murali Kartik elaborated:

“I had done it (Mankading) five times before but it became a controversy because I did it against Somerset, a club for which I had played for three years. Somerset was already upset that I went to Surrey. They had so many accusations against me - that my wife liked city life and that’s why I went to London, they must be paying him more, etc. So, Somerset was my previous team, which is why it became so huge.”

VIDEO: Murali Kartik's run out of Alex Barrow caused controversy during Somerset's clash with Surrey. http://t.co/aCCvMvE1 @SkyCricket

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 31, 2012

Have never read this bible called spirit of cricket: Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik also slammed the debate over the spirit of cricket, claiming it was a convenient escape route for the batsmen’s wrongdoings. Kartik went on to point out how the spirit of cricket unnecessarily made the bowler look like a villain.

"What the bowler is doing is right and the batsman is wrong. By bringing in the spirit of cricket, they have made the bowler the villain, which is so wrong. In fact, it (2012 incident) went into the MCC, where they discussed about the rules.

"I think Sri Lanka and England were playing at that time. Michael Holding, Nasser Hussain and Bumble (David Lloyd), they were all asked whether what Murali Kartik did was correct or wrong. All of them said, Murali Kartik was correct, the batsman was at fault.

“The word used (for batsmen backing up) is unintentionally they walk out. You are driving a car in the night. You are at a traffic light. You don’t see anyone else. Will you cross, just because there is no one? I have never read this bible called spirit of cricket. It has become a convenient bunker to hide behind," said Murali Kartik.

Kartik also recalled how he took to social media to defend Ashwin when the latter was involved in a Mankading incident with Jos Buttler.

"Once you (Ashwin) did that to Jos Buttler (IPL 2019 Mankading), I took on everyone on Twitter and asked them, 'How can you joke by blaming it on the bowler?' " said Kartik.

Murali Kartik played eight Tests, 37 ODIs and one T20 for India from 2000 to 2007. In county cricket, apart from Surrey and Somerset, he also represented Lancashire and Middlesex.