Mankad 'doesn't sit well' with Aussies

Both Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have voiced their disapproval of Ravi Ashwin's 'Mankad' run out in the IPL, with Hazlewood calling for the controversial mode of dismissal to be struck out of cricket's law book.

Hazlewood, who is currently recovering from a back injury that has seen him sidelined since last January, said today that it was not only Ashwin's opportunistic removal of Jos Buttler that he refused to condone.

The 28-year-old also claimed it was a disingenuous means by which bowlers can claim a wicket, and suggested an overhaul of the game's laws was needed to ensure it only came into play when batters were attempting to blatantly steal an advantage.

While fellow quick Cummins said he doesn’t object to the controversial method’s use if the non-striker is attempting to gain an advantage and pre-warning is given, he also took the side of Buttler.

Global debate has raged since Ashwin, captaining Kings XI Punjab against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, halted his bowling action almost at the point of delivery as Buttler – who was marginally behind the crease line at that moment – continued moving forward.

Oblivious to the impending danger, Buttler was then almost a metre out of his ground when Ashwin coolly turned and flicked off the bails, with the subsequent third umpire's decision confirming that the England international was out.

Buttler was clearly incensed by what he considered an act of poor sportsmanship by Ashwin, but the Kings Punjab XI skipper defended his actions at game's end noting it was not a premeditated play and that he simply observed his opponent outside the crease.

Hazlewood told 'The Unplayable Podcast' he did not consider Buttler was flagrantly trying to crib ground before Ashwin had released the ball, and that the wording and the application of the 'Mankad' law needed to be revised.

"I'm not happy with it at all," Hazlewood said of Buttler's dismissal that proved a turning point in Rajasthan's ultimately unsuccessful run chase.

"I don’t think it should be in the game, to be honest.

"Maybe if the batters really start to take advantage, then the umpire needs to step in.

"But I don't think you should be able to get a batsman out that way, and even in this instance Jos Buttler was hardly out of his crease.

"He wasn't jogging with the bowler, he wasn't running – he was pretty stationary to be honest."

Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on the eve of Australia’s third one-dayer against Pakistan, Cummins took a similar view.

"It didn't really sit well with me to be honest,” said Cummins, who watched the game unfold live.

"If a batsman is trying to steal a run you can kind of understand but I didn't think Jos was doing anything untoward there.

"I thought it was a pretty bad look to be honest.

"I spoke to a couple of the boys and they all sort of said the same, that it didn't really sit well with them.

"When you're talking millimetres and you're looking the other way … you could probably almost argue then when he was going to release the ball he would have been in his crease.

"The rule is there. But I thought in that instance it was a real stretch of the rule to try and get a wicket.

"I wouldn't want to win a game like that. "

Ex-Australia leg spinner Shane Warne was among the most vocal critics of Ashwin, taking to Twitter to describe the action against his former IPL team (Rajasthan) for which he is currently serving as 'brand ambassador' as "a disgraceful and low act".

However, Hazlewood's former fast-bowler Test teammate Mitchell Johnson deemed that it was within the laws of the cricket and, therefore, it was also a valid method of dismissal according to the game's often-debated spirit.

Johnson, who previously played for Kings XI Punjab added that - unlike Ashwin - he would have issued a courtesy warning to any batter who transgressed, before enacting the dismissal if his rival continued to flout the law.

Like Cummins, Hazlewood claimed that unless there was an obvious case of a non-striker trying to 'sneak' a run, any move by a bowler to feign a delivery and instead hold on to the ball to complete a run out fell outside the spirit of the game.

He also noted that the increased occurrence of batters being run out at the non-striker's end when the ball deflects from a bowler's hand (or other parts of their body) further highlighted the risk taken by players who back-up too far, and too enthusiastically.

Although he did not believe Buttler was guilty of either oversight in the IPL incident overnight.

"Definitely not in this instance, and maybe we need to tinker with the rules a little bit to work out a certain way (of clarifying run outs by bowlers)," Hazlewood said.

"I think it should be out (abolished) completely.

"It just comes down to common sense I think, and playing in that spirit of the game as everyone talks about.

"I just don't think it's a great way to get a wicket."