Harsha Bhogle denounces England after Mankad Episode

Deepti Sharma (PC: Twitter)

Veteran commentator and pundit Harsha Bhogle launched a scathing attack on the English cricket ecosystem- players, pundits, media for their condescending takes on running out the non-striker in the wake of the Deepti Sharma episode.

Bhogle took to his Twitter account to pen a strongly-worded thread where he urged the English ecosystem to wake up from their deep colonial slumber and stop deciding what is wrong and what is right.

The legendary cricket commentator further added that English cricket's current attitude towards running out a non-striker is a byproduct of the hangover from decades of their rule all over the world.

He wrote:

"I find it very disturbing that a very large section of the media in England is asking questions of a girl who played by the laws of the game & none at all of another who was gaining an illegal advantage and was a habitual offender. That includes reasonable people and I think it is a cultural thing. The English thought it was wrong to do so & because they ruled over a large part of the cricket world, they told everyone it was wrong. The colonial domination was so powerful that few questioned it.

“As a result, the mindset still is that what England considers wrong should be considered wrong by the rest of the cricket world, much like the ‘line’ the Aussies say you must not cross having decided what the line should be which is fine in their culture but may not be for others. The rest of the world is no longer obligated to think the way England does and so we see what is so plainly wrong. So too the notion that turning tracks are bad but seaming tracks are fine. The reason I say it is cultural is that it is what they are brought up to think. They don’t think it is wrong.”

Deepti Sharma the latest to run a non-striker out

Deepti Sharma appeals (PC: Twitter)

For the uninitiated, India's off-spin bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma ran out non-striker Charlotte Dean in the 3rd ODI of the recent series at Lord's.

Dean was out of crease while Deepti was in her follow-through, and it later turned out that it was not the first time she had done that.

Later, Deepti also revealed that the Indian team had warned Dean and had also informed the officials.

Following the incident, England cricketers James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Billings, Heather Knight, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, and their media have been launching scathing attacks on the Indian all-rounder.

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