Iceland Cricket takes dig at Ponting using Dhoni’s ‘unsporting’ stumping

The debate over whether the method of dismissing a batsman for backing up too much at the non-striker’s end, commonly referred to as the ‘Mankad’, is far from over.

It took centre stage in last year’s Indian Premier League when Ravichandran Ashwin, then playing for Kings XI Punjab, dismissed Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler when he strayed a bit too far from the crease at the non-striker’s end.

While it is perfectly legal as per the rule book of the International Cricket Council, several players have been up in arms citing that it is against the “spirit of cricket”. One among those is Australian batting legend Ricky Ponting, who is what one would call a conservationist or purist of the game. He is also head coach of Delhi Capitals, the team for which Ashwin is currently playing in the IPL.

Before the beginning of the latest edition of the IPL, the duo had discussions over ‘Mankading’ and even agreed on the fact that bowlers are at a disadvantage when batsmen back up too far from the crease even before the ball is bowled. In the ongoing IPL, Ashwin even warned Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Aaron Finch when he backed up a bit too early, prompting a smile from coach Ponting.

Delhi Capitals’ Ravichandran Ashwin stops in the middle of bowling to give Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Aaron Finch a warning during their IPL match | via Twitter

However, Iceland Cricket on Tuesday took a dig at Ponting’s stance on Mankading, using a bogus quote and a picture of Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni stumping AB de Villiers during a match in a previous edition of the IPL.

“‘This is so unsporting of MS Dhoni. He does it all the time. The batsman only came out of his crease by a short margin and he didn’t mean to. Dhoni should be giving the batsman a warning and then let him carry on batting.” — Ricky Ponting.’” the tweet laced with sarcasm read.

Iceland Cricket has got game when it comes to satire, having once trolled the US President Donald Trump for mispronouncing Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar’s name and comparing it to a Chinese menu.

In the meantime, Ashwin had taken to Twitter to give his “first and final warning” of 2020.

“Let’s make it clear !! First and final warning for 2020. I am making it official and don’t blame me later on,” he tweeted tagging Ponting.

“@AaronFinch5 and I are good buddies btw,” Ashwin added.