‘Bowlers, run out non strikers; this could make or break your careers’: Ashwin on ‘Mankading’ law change

Indian bowler Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday gave his take on the recent ‘Mankading’ law change and encouraged bowlers to run batters out on the non-striker’s end, even going as far as saying that the wicket might make or break their careers.
“Law destigmatises the bowlers. Essentially, they are saying run the batsman out. Many bowlers feel oh our batsmen themselves might feel upset (if they run out non strikers). They also feel what the world will say about them. That fear itself makes them not do it.
“I want to tell the bowlers again. The one feet the batsman take ( moving out early), can end or change your careers. The batsman on strike might hit a six. If you take the wicket ( running out) your career might go up, else with the six (and runs) you might go out of team next match. That’s the kind of impact. I urge the bowlers not to think and should use this in their favour is my thought process,” he added.

Last week, custodian of cricket laws, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), decided to move the law relating to run-outs at non-striker’s end from “unfair play” section besides completely banning the use of saliva to shine the ball in amendments to its 2022 code that will come into effect in October.
It is worth mentioning here that back in 2019, when bowling the second last ball of the 13th over of the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, Ashwin had ran out Jos Buttler clipping the bails at the non-striker’s end before he had bowled his delivery.

Ashwin, who was the captain of Kings XI Punjab appealed to the umpire after clipping the bails while bowling the penultimate ball of the 13th over. The decision went to the third umpire who deemed that Buttler was out. The Englishman had an animated discussion with Ashwin while the decision was taken upstairs the umpire was visibly livid while walking back to the dugout.