When Ashwin did a Mankad and Tendulkar played a gentleman

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar played a perfect ambassador of the game of cricket, which is known to be a gentleman's sport, when he asked India's stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag to withdraw a run-out appeal against Sri Lanka batsman Lahiru Thirimanne during the 8th ODI of the tri-series in Brisbane.

Thirimanne repeatedly overlooked a rule of the game that when on non-striker's end, one should not leave the crease for a run until the bowler has released the ball. India spinner R Ashwin spotted it and dislodged the bail in the 39.3 over and appealed for a run out.

The on-field umpires went to the Third Umpire.  Meanwhile, Tendulkar rushed to Sehwag and asked him to withdraw the appeal. Although it defied the rules book, the gesture was very much in the spirit of the game.

Former India batsman Vinoo Mankad was the first cricketer to execute this kind of dismissal. In 1947-48, during India's tour to Australia, Mankad ran out Bill Brown in the second Test.  He broke the wicket at the non-striker's end during his run-up while Brown was out of his ground. The incident angered the Australian media and they named this type of dismissals as 'Mankading'.

Thirimanne, who survived 'Mankading' in the 40th over, continued to repeat the mistake. This irked the commentators who said he deserved to be run out. He went on to score 62 runs and was finally caught out by Suresh Raina off Ashwin in the 46th over. Poetic justice?

© NDTV