Mannat Kashyap was in the news again owing to her cheeky yet unique style of dismissing the South African batter, Jenna Evans in the 1st T20I featuring India U19 and South Africa U19. Chasing 138 to win, South Africa was reeling under pressure having bottled the chase and were 67/7 in the 16th over when Mannat Kashyap ran out Evans at the non-striker’s end for stepping out of the crease before the ball was delivered.
Instead of being lauded for her presence of mind and game awareness, her action has come under the scanner. Although the batter began walking back to the pavilion after being signaled out by the umpire, the skipper of Team India Shafali Verma called back the dismissed batter further adding to the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ debate. Evans, though, was unable to fully seize the opportunity and was ultimately dismissed by Archana after being caught off her own bowling. With 12 balls, she only managed to score 7 runs.
Watch the video here
Run-Out at the Non-Strikers end ft. Mannat Kashyap during India U19 vs South Africa U19 #CricketTwitter #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/6cylMoU1JD
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 27, 2022
While Mannat Kashyap’s mode of dismissing the batter was not questionable under the rules of cricket yet there were mixed reactions concerning the same. Dannielle Wyatt, the English batter was among the first to express her discontent over the dismissal hoping the upcoming U19 World Cup would not see exhibitions of such dismissals. Mannat Kashyap had earlier tried to dismiss Isabelle Gaze during the New Zealand Development series last month which drew the ire of fans and experts alike.
Oh no 🤦🏼♀️ I hope there’s none of this in the u19 WC! 🤢 https://t.co/s7SgkNto1v
— Danielle Wyatt (@Danni_Wyatt) December 27, 2022
It is important to note that the mode of dismissal, earlier referred to as ‘Mankad’ is and has always been permitted under cricket rules but often is perceived as ‘unsportsmanlike’. It is both an entirely legal method of dismissing a batsman from the game and an act that is ostensibly so awful according to some. The Indian U19 team is scheduled to play four more T20Is against the South African U19 team in the lead-up to the World Cup and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the series pans out.
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.