‘Full freedom. Be sure to do one’: Virender Sehwag has a hilarious message for Ashwin after MCC makes ‘Mankading’ legal

‘Mankading’ is no longer an illegitimate dismissal as The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has reframed the “unfair play” to a “runout”. The change in law, along with a host of other alterations, were announced on Wednesday and the move has been welcomed by many experts. Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag is among the list of people supporting the decision and has made a hilarious tweet including R Ashwin and Jos Buttler– the two players who were involved in a classic instance of the ‘Mankading’.

The famous incident involving two of the most exciting players in the current generation took place during IPL 2019 when Rajasthan Royals’ Buttler, batting on 69, trudged outside the bowling crease even before Ashwin, playing for erstwhile King XI Punjab, delivered the ball. The off-spinner dislodged the bails in his stride and the batter was given out. Since then, the legitimacy of this mode of dismissal has been questioned w.r.t. the ‘spirit’ of cricket’.

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Now that it has been legalised, Sehwag, who is one of the most-liked public figures on Twitter, did not leave this opportunity to express his views on the same and make a tongue-in-cheek statement.

“Congratulations @ashwinravi99, great week this one. First becoming second highest wicket taker in Tests for India, and now this. Ab full freedom to plot such run-outs with Buttler. Ek karna zaroor,” read Sehwag’s tweet.

Interestingly, at the recently-concluded IPL 2022 Auction, Rajasthan Royals, after retaining skipper Sanju Samson, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Buttler, secured the services of R Ashwin for INR 5 crore. The moment the auctioneer’s hammer came down to seal the deal, fans on social media went berserk after realising that the two players, who didn’t share a particularly friendly camaraderie following the “infamous incident”, will play for the same team.

The franchise, soon after, released a video from Ashwin and Buttler each, where both the players spoke about looking forward to working together.

The next edition of the India Premier League gets underway in Mumbai on March 26. RR will open its campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 29 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.