Sachin Tendulkar weighs in on Mankading and the Deepti Sharma incident

Deepti Sharma in action (Source: Twitter)

The Mankading incident involving Deepti Sharma and Charlotte Dean caused a lot of furore around the cricket world.

The India Women all-rounder chose to run out Dean after the England all-rounder chose to leave the crease at the non-striker's end before the ball had been bowled. Apparently, Sharma had warned her regarding the same a few times before deciding to dismiss her. 

The dismissal proved to be crucial in the end and helped India Women secure a 3-0 series win over England. 

While there were people who backed Sharma following the event, the Indian international was severely criticised by certain sections as well. 

It is important to note that Sharma's decision to run Dean out was a perfectly legitimate move as far as the ICC rules and regulations are concerned. 

Former Indian World Cup winner and legend Sachin Tendulkar has now weighed in on the same. 

Tendulkar backed Deepti Sharma and claimed that the decision was within the rules of the game and therefore the player cannot be criticised for not upholding the spirit of the game. He also hinted that the scenario might have been blown out of proportion. 

The Master Blaster said, as quoted by Sportstar: 

"Spirit of cricket...whatever you are playing within the rules of the game, that is spirit of cricket. It's a rule now. If a player is short of the crease or doesn't make the crease, then the batter is given out, right? Just like he misses a ball that's heading toward stumps and in line of the stumps, he is given out lbw. So the ICC has introduced the rule that if you are out of the crease (before the ball is bowled), then you are run out. She was playing to what the laws of the game are."

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