The story so far: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has come up with a host of changes in the rules on playing conditions of cricket. The changes will come into effect on October 1. The men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13, will be played in accordance with the new rules. The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee has ratified the recommendations from the Men’s Cricket Committee, led by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. The changes were approved by the Women’s Cricket Committee too.
What are the significant changes?
The practice known as ‘mankading’— a batter being run out by the bowler while backing up too far from the non-striking end — has been destigmatised. It has been moved from the section on Unfair Play to the one on Run Out. ‘Mankading’ became a topic of discussion after R. Ashwin ran Jos Buttler out in such a manner during an IPL match at Jaipur three years ago. It has been considered against the spirit of cricket, a game which has traditionally valued ethics highly, sometimes at the cost of losing a considerable advantage or even a match. West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh had famously refused to run Pakistan’s Saleem Jaffar out by ‘mankading’ in a match at the 1987 World Cup in Lahore. The host had needed two off the last ball when Walsh stopped and warned Jaffar. ‘Mankading’ is once again dividing opinions after India’s Deepti Sharma ran England’s Charlie Dean out in the third Womens One Day Internationals (ODI) at Lord’s on Saturday.
