Speaking on the Sky Cricket Podcast, Rob Key said he would not pick Indian spinner R Ashwin in his world XI, arguing that he would not choose a bowler who ‘Mankads’ a batsman.
“This is where it’s a pain. The one who is statistically the best — is this right? — in my era is Ashwin,” said Key, while deciding on a spinner for his world XI in a virtual face-off against Nasser Hussain’s XI, currently being run on cricket simulation.
“I refuse to have someone in my side who does ‘Mankads’. I can’t…they’re an actual part of the game and all the bowlers can start hammering me, and it’s all part of it, but….
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“And he Mankaded one of my big mates, Jos Buttler, so I am not having him.”
The incident Key was referring to occurred during IPL 2019, when Ashwin, playing for Kings XI Punjab ran out Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end in his delivery stride. It prompted starkly polarised views; while some, such as Shane Warne, found it “disgraceful”, others including Simon Taufel supported the act, calling the outcry against Ashwin “incredibly unfair”.
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MCC had, in a statement, called the law (41.16 under Laws of Cricket) “essential”, saying that “without it, non-strikers could back up at liberty, several yards down the pitch and a law is needed to prevent such action”.
Key eventually settled for Australia’s Nathan Lyon as the first-choice spinner in his XI.
