England pacer Kate Cross believes that the rules regarding mankading aren't really clear and calls for the laws to be written in a clear way rather than in some "wishy-washy" way.
India pulled off a win against England on Saturday after all-rounder Deepti Sharma ran out Dean (47) for backing too far at the non-striker's end, reigniting an intense debate over the spirit of the game.
Dean was out of her ground, and Deepti simply held the ball to remove the bails, leaving the English team flabbergasted.
"What I think has come of it, which happens a lot in these scenarios when there's a big thing to talk about, is that the rules aren't quite written correctly to make it clear," Cross told the BBC's No Balls podcast.
"I think what needs to happen is there needs to be more clear words on the rules because it's quite wishy-washy, and it's all like opinion of where the bowler might be bowling. Make it clear, if it is back foot contact or front foot contact, whatever it is.
"I think there needs to be the warning moving forward and they need to clear up the rules on where the front foot lands, or where the bowler is bowling from. Just make it really clear."
The MCC, the guardian of the laws of cricket, on Sunday stamped its seal of approval on the dismissal, saying "it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more".
Recently, the ICC while modifying the playing conditions moved the dismissal from 'unfair play to 'run out. The changes would come into effect from October 1.
Earlier, in a recent media interaction, Deepti Sharma spilt the beans as to what really happened.
"That was our plan because she was repeatedly doing it and we had warned them too. We had also informed the umpires. But still, she was right there so there wasn't much we could do. We did everything according to the rules and guidelines. See, every team wants to win and we wanted to win the last game to give Jhulan di a memorable farewell," said Deepti.
Responding to this, Heather Knight, regular captain of the England cricket team, took to Twitter and said that Team India shouldn't be justifying their decision to affect run-out by lying.
"The game is over, Charlie was dismissed legitimately. India were deserved winners of the match and the series. But no warnings were given. They don’t need to be given, so it hasn’t made the dismissal any less legitimate," wrote Knight.
She further added that if the team is comfortable with the way they won the match, they shouldn't be lying about warnings.
"But if they’re comfortable with the decision to affect the run-out, India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying about warnings," Knight added.
Is Mankading within the rules of the game?
Yes, according to the rules of cricket, Deepti's dismissal of Dean through Mankading was not wrong. At present, it is considered a run-out. According to the ICC, this is absolutely legal and within the rules of the game.
(With PTI inputs)
