Ravichandran Ashwin (batter) and Mohan Prasath (bowler).
Ravichandran Ashwin (batter) and Mohan Prasath (bowler). Image Credit: X

India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has always been a vocal advocate for the laws of the game. There had been many days in the past when he had used those rules in the game effectively and come under scrutiny.

One of these has been running out at the batter at the non-striker’s end for leaving the crease early before the bowler delivers the ball. The law of the game states that the bowler has all the right to dismiss the batter in that case, as the veteran bowler had done the same in the past game.

It was during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game in 2019, when Ravichandran Ashwin, playing for the Punjab Kings (PBKS), ran out the opening batter of Rajasthan Royals, Jos Buttler, which turned the imagination of the whole world into reality.

Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin gets a taste of his own medicine in TNPL 2024

It wasn’t the very first time Ravichandran Ashwin did that with a batter in the non-striker end. During the ODI tri-series in 2012 in Australia, India was facing Sri Lanka at the Gabba, in Brisbane, when the Tamil Nadu spinner had mankad the opponent batter Lahiru Thirimanne, after which Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar withdrew the appeal.

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After the incident with Buttler during the IPL, Ashwin felt that this act had been new to the cricketing world and especially the batters given it hadn’t been a regular practice so far.

‘When the incident happened, I think it was Jos who felt deflated about it and quite upset. Rightly so, because it’s not accepted practice.  It’s not something that happens day in and day out.’ Ravichandran Ashwin expressed to ‘Times of India’ in 2022.

‘But the pace at which the game is going, the professionals are evolving and how the players are perceiving the game, I just hope and wish that it is looked upon as a legitimate form of dismissal.’ He noted this during the interaction.

Now two years later, in the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2024, the veteran tasted his own medicine, during the game between Dindigul Dragons and Nellai Royal Kings. Ashwin was stepping out of the crease, which the left-arm spinner Mohan Prasath noticed for a long time.

During the 15th over of the first innings, the bowler stopped in his run-up as the batter was inching out of the crease. The replay showed that Ravichandran Ashwin had his bat on the crease, which saved him from getting run out in the bowler’s end.

The 37-year-old has always been vocal and clear about his stance on non-striker run-outs as he believes that the bowlers have always been pressured to maintain the spirit of the game, and in that process, the batters often get an unfair advantage by stepping out of the crease which they shouldn’t.

The debate, over the years, has increased and led to a change of rule in 2022 when the MCC moved the act from being ‘Unfair Play’ to ‘Run-out’, by reducing the stigma and encouraging the batters to be careful about their stance.

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Under the leadership of Ravichandran Ashwin, Dindigul Dragons have finished at the fourth position in the points table of the TNPL 2024, with four wins in seven games, at a net run rate of +0.109.

The off-spinner has been in good touch having taken eight wickets in seven innings at an average of just under 22, and an economy rate of 7.34. They will face Chepauk Super Gillies in the Eliminator of the tournament on July 31 at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul.