"Ashwin has won"- Fans react after MCC legalizes Mankad dismissals as a form of run-out

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has stated that Mankad dismissals will come under the run-out mode of dismissal moving forward. A Mankad transpires when a non-striking batter is run-out by the bowler before delivering the ball.

Earlier, these used to come under law 41, which deemed it an unfair play. However, the MCC has now revealed that Mankad dismissals will come under law 38, which is for normal run-outs. In this regard, the MCC said:

"Law 41.16 — running out the non-striker — has been moved from Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out). The wording of the law remains the same."

This mode of dismissal has resulted in many controversies over the years. Even in the IPL, Ravichandran Ashwin had to face backlash when he sent Jos Buttler to the dugout via a Mankad dismissal in 2019. Speaking to the Times newspaper, MCC laws manager Fraser Stewart defended the bowlers and said:

"The bowler is always painted as the villain but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground. It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws."

Cricket fans had a positive response to the latest developments on the Mankad dismissal, and they took to Twitter to express the same. They felt it was high time Mankading came under fair play and put on some intriguing tweets involving Ashwin.

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Here are some of the reactions:

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MCC bans use of Saliva on the ball going forward

Since the pandemic began, the players were not allowed to use saliva to shine the ball as a Coivd-19 precaution. However, the MCC has now imposed a permanent ban on the use of saliva as they felt it did not impact their swing bowling detrimentally in the last two years. The MCC's statement in this regard read:

"The new laws will not permit the use of saliva on the ball, which also removes any grey areas of fielders eating sugary sweets to alter their saliva to apply to the ball."

A few other new rules include:

Law 1 – Replacement players: Replacements will be treated as if they were the player they replaced, inheriting any sanctions or dismissals that the player has done in that match.

Law 18 – Batters returning when caught: When a batter is out caught, the new batter will come in and take strike even if the players have crossed. (Unless it is the end of an over). This rule was trialed during The Hundred.

Law 20.4.2.12 – Dead ball: A dead ball will be called if either side is disadvantaged by a person, animal, or other object within the field of play.

Law 22.1 – Judging a Wide: A wide will apply to where the batter stands, where the striker has stood at any point since the bowler began their run-up, and which would also have passed wide of the striker in a normal batting position.