Cricket
Glenn Phillips's crouching start solves 'Mankad risk'
What New Zealand's Glenn Phillips did in the T20 World Cup match vs Sri Lanka seems to have solved the 'spirit of cricket' problem around being run out at the non-striker's end.
Glenn Philips crouches at the non-striker's end in the last over of New Zealand's innings (Screenshot)
Sometimes bending the knee is the most honourable thing to do. New Zealand's Glenn Phillips might have put the 'spirit of the game' dilemma behind for cricket when he crouched down at the non-striker's end to help him get an explosive start in the final over of the innings vs Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.
With New Zealand trying to add as many runs possible in the final over, Phillips, instead of leaving his crease at the non-striker's end to gain an advantage, crouched down like a track athlete.
Phillips became the first number 4 or lower batter to score a Men's T20 World Cup hundred as his 61-ball century rescued New Zealand from 15/3 against Sri Lanka.
Former cricketer Ian Bishop was one of those who alluded to Athletics in his reaction to Phillips' innovation.
US-based journalist Peter Della Penna, who has initiated a process of scrutiny around world cricket of non-strikers leaving their crease, liked what he say of Phillips' technique, but found room for improvement.
While the 'Phillips way' was hailed widely for following the spirit of the game...
...there were some mentions of Ravichandran Ashwin and Deepti Sharma as if they were specialists in this mode of dismissal.
Phillips has shown batters around the world how to go about it if they do not want to run the risk of being run out by the bowler while being proactive to the opportunity of a run. The question is, will the likes of England's Jos Buttler and Australia's Aaron Finch follow suit?
