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'Shameful' or 'unbelievable'? David Warner's act splits cricket world on clear lines
David Warner's 'unsportsmanship' six vs Pakistan has been hailed as many things, but it was only a recent rule change that makes this incident different from earlier double-bounced balls.
David Warner dances towards the ball even as it slips from Mohammad Hafeez's hands during the Australia vs Pakistan T20 World Cup semifinal (Twitter/ICC)
David Warner and Steve Smith were batting for Australia in the T20 World Cup semifinal against Pakistan, when something Warner did against Mohammad Hafeez made the world of cricket sit up in consternation. The ball slipped out of Hafeez's hands, but Warner still walked down the pitch and lofted the double-bounced ball over the leg side boundary for a six. Australia eventually won the match to set up a final date with New Zealand, but Warner's act has hogged all the limelight since then.
The 'Spirit of Cricket' debate: India vs Australia
Indian cricketers past and present seemed unimpressed with Warner. "Though it was within the rules, it should not have happened. We also got a similar chance in the past but didn't do it," said Harbhajan Singh on his YouTube channel.
"Shane Warne makes all kinds of comments...Ricky Ponting says big things about the spirit of the game. What will they say about this [Warner incident]?" Gautam Gambhir said on a post-match television show. "When Ashwin 'Mankads', you get to hear all sorts of big talk – what does Warne have to say about Warner today? It's easy to say things about others, difficult to say about your own players," he said.
Australia's cricket community, however, stood staunchly by Warner. "It's one of the best things I've ever seen in cricket," Justin Langer said on Sportsday. "How he had the instincts in a semi-final and the ball bounces twice…how he hit it over the fence for six was unbelievable," he said. Warner's teammate Adam Zampa said on the ABC Grandstand podcast: "It's a pretty big effort from David Warner and I think he had every right to."
Spirit of cricket - that elusive entity - had clearly divided opinions based on team loyalties.
It cannot be known whether spirit of cricket was on Warner's mind during the match, but ironically he walked off a little later after being given caught behind despite not having hit the ball, instead of taking a review.
Ravichandran Ashwin's act of running the non-striker out (still known as 'Mankading') was cited by all as a parallel. Ashwin let his own views be known through a reply to Gambhir's tweet, defending him from an Australian journalist who said Gambhir's opinion was a bad one. "His point is that if this is right , that was right. If that was wrong , this is wrong too," Ashwin replied.
However, this was hardly the first time such a thing has transpired in international cricket.
Aamer Sohail had once mockingly threateaned to hit such a ball but then walked away, drawing laughs from the New Zealand players as well as the Pakistan dressing room. AB de Villiers had tried hitting such a double-bounced ball but was caught in a Test against Bangaldesh.
How a recent rule change made things different for Warner
However, there was a change in cricket rules made in 2017 which makes Warner's incident unlike the previous instances of this happening. Earlier, Law 24 section 6 of the 'Laws of Cricket' had stated that the umpire shall call a no-ball only if it bounced more than twice before reaching the popping crease. This was why De Villiers was given out, but Warner would not have been out even if his shot had landed in a fielder's hands.
In 2017, along with a spate of rule changes, the no-ball rule was changed such that a ball could be signalled as no ball if it bounced twice.
Law 21.7, which pertains to 'No balls - Ball bouncing more than once, rolling along the ground or pitching off the pitch', says:
The umpire shall call and signal No ball if a ball which he/she considers to have been delivered, without having previously touched bat or person of the striker,
- bounces more than once or rolls along the ground before it reaches the popping crease
or
- pitches wholly or partially off the pitch as defined in Law 6.1 (Area of pitch) before it reaches the line of the striker's wicket.
That Ashwin was cited by so many people in reference to Warner's act makes the 2012 Nagpur Test between India and England worth remembering. England's Jonathan Trott had, like Warner, struck a four off Ravindra Jadeja when the ball slipped out of his hand and bounced thrice before rolling wide of the wicket. "It was a little innocuous. When you talk about gamesmanship you should hold by yourself to take the same from the opponents," Ashwin had said of the incident at the time.
Ashwin also got engaged in a verbal exchange with Trott when the English batsman backed up too early during the bowlers' follow-through. Ashwin stopped before delivering the ball once and warned Trott not to leave the crease or else he would run him out.
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