Dubai, Sept 2: Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting has offered a solution to restrict batsmen at the non-striker's end from advancing before the ball is delivered. The former Australian cricketer said a 'run penalty' should be imposed on the team.
Ponting offered the solution during a conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin, who said it is a 'massive advantage' for the batsmen and raised a question saying will the batsmen be able to cope with the 'blows' from the likes of Jofra Archer if the bowler is given leverage to deliver the ball while stepping beyond the crease.
Referring to a conversation he had with Ponting, Ashwin said he agrees with Ponting that such dismissal should not happen, "But should they (batsmen) walk? Many batsmen say that they are just walking, not trying to steal a run, and just moving an inch, not two feet."
"I said if batsmen ask for all of this, then can't I also just take an inch beyond the crease while bowling? The likes of Shaun Tait and Jofra Archer, who bowl 150+ if they go beyond the crease a bit, they can hit 160. Should they be allowed? Will batsmen cope with those blows? That was my question," Ashwin said in a video he posted on his Youtube channel.
When Ashwin asked Ponting about his views on the much-debated topic, the former captain said, "Yeah, I totally get where you are coming from. And that's what I said. I wasn't trying to say that you were (not) justified because it is actually in the laws of the game that you cannot do it. So if a batsman is cheating, and trying to pinch a couple of yards, but honestly, we have got to find a way around, trying to make the batsman stop cheating."
"We have had this conversation already. I don't want to see anyone running two or three yards down the wicket because that basically is cheating. I think there should be some sort of run penalty... I think (we should) put a run penalty on him. And do it right from the start because that will stop him straight away. Taking 10 runs off the team's total because you have taken a yard out of your crease. Those sorts of things need to be looked at," he added.
Last year, Ashwin, who was with Kings XI Punjab at the time, had sent Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler back to the pavilion by Mankading him. The dismissal had sparked a huge debate on social media as to whether the dismissal was in the spirit of the game or not.
Both Ashwin and Ponting, player and coach of Delhi Capitals respectively, are currently in Dubai, getting ready for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, slated to begin on September 19.
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