Ashwin hails 'bowling hero' Deepti Sharma after 'mankad' run-out sparks Twitter trend

Team India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has put out an interesting tweet on Saturday, referring to the controversial 'mankad' incident that took place during the 3rd ODI match between Indian women and England women at the iconic Lord’s stadium.

Playing at the home of cricket, India went on to earn a 16-run victory against England, after Charlie Dean was sent back to the pavillion through a 'mankad' run-out. The run-out by India all-rounder Deepti Sharma became the biggest talking point from the match as it received reactions from all corners of the cricket world.

Fans recall Ashwin's 'mankading' of Jos Buttler

Meanwhile, fans were reminded of a similar incident that took place during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, when Ashwin had dismissed England batter Jos Buttler through mankading. This led to Ashwin trending on Twitter on Saturday and prompted a reply from the veteran cricketer himself. It is pertinent to mention that the Internet is currently flooded with posts of cricket fans mentioning Buttler’s dismissal by Ashwin, alongside that of Dean by Deepti.

Ashwin took to his official Twitter handle and wrote, 'Why the hell are you trending Ashwin? Tonight is about another bowling hero Deepti Sharma'.

Back in 2012, Ashwin was involved in another 'mankading' incident, when he had caught a Sri Lanka batter off-guard. Since the 2019 IPL incident, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has tweaked its rules, which declared mankading as a legal dismissal, which is well under the spirit of the game.

India women vs England women: How the controversial event unfolded?

In the 44th over of England's chase of 170 runs in the 3rd ODI on Saturday, Charlie Dean was caught off-guard by Sharma, as she had backed up too far before the ball was bowled. Sharma whipped the bails off midway into her delivery stride, as Dean was left dumbstruck and was seen visibly disappointed with the dismissal. While the English batter was batting on the individual score of 47 runs, her dismissal resulted in the team getting bowled out on the score of 153 runs.

Stuart Broad gets schooled on 'spirit of cricket' by fans

Shedding his views on the incident, England pacer Stuart Broad tweeted, “I find the debate of the Mankad really interesting. So many views from either side. I personally wouldn’t like to win a match like that, also, very happy for others to feel differently."

However, the veteran pacer faced wrath of trolls later as fans reminded him of an incident where he was spotted 'not abiding' by the spirit of cricket.