Warning to non-striker is in the right spirit of the game - Murali

By Bipin Dani   

India all-rounder Deepti Sharma’s running out of Englishwoman Charlie Dean during their ODI at Lord’s on Saturday has drawn criticism and former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has added to it, stating the non-striker should have been warned before Sharma ran her out.   

The incident happened in the third ODI between the teams at Lord’s on Saturday, and the running out proved to be the deciding factor in the game, as Dean was the last batter out.   

Indian spinner R. Ashwin, who had also ran out England batter Jos Buttler in a similar fashion in the IPL praised Sharma on Twitter saying she showed “presence of mind” and stated that the bowler should be credited with the wicket and be given the bravery award.   

He may have said this in jest as the bowler is never credited for the run out wicket but his comments have not gone well with the world’s highest wicket taker Muthiah Muralitharan.   

Muralitharan asked, “What presence of mind? No cricketer would play international matches if he or she has no presence of mind. I would have appreciated Deepti (Sharma) if she had given the warning to the non-striker first. It would have been in the right spirit of the game then.”   

The incident happened in the third ODI between the teams at Lord’s on Saturday, and the running out proved to be the deciding factor in the game, as Dean was the last batter out

Late reports coming from England suggest that the 25-year-old all rounder had warned the batter and also informed the umpires prior to running her out.   

“Yes, lawfully, she (Deepti Sharma) was right in running out the non-striker but that’s in the law and not in the spirit of the game. The white ball game is a pressure game and in a tight situation the non-striker may have left the crease early and if this act by the non-striker is repeated, the run out is justified. Not otherwise in my opinion.”