Habitual offender? England’s Charlotte Dean left the crease early 73 times in third ODI against India

The chatter has not stopped yet on India’s Deepti Sharma running out England’s Charlotte Dean at the non-striker’s end in the 44th over of the innings at Lord’s on Saturday. Sharma stopped in the middle of her bowling action and pulled off the bails at the non-striker’s end to send Dean back to the pavillion and complete a 3-0 Indian victory over England in the series.

While many English cricketers and supporters are frothing over what they feel is “cheating” and a violation of the so-called “Spirit of Cricket”, the Indian cricket community and fans are busy defending the all-rounder, insisting her act was well within the laws set by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Interestingly, it was at the MCC’s headquarters — the Lord’s Cricket Ground — where the incident took place.

Meanwhile, a renowned cricket journalist, Peter Della, has seemingly put the lid on the controversial debate with a scrupulous observation from the game.

As per Della’s analysis, which he shared as a thread on Twitter, England batter Charlotte Dean left her crease early 72 times at the non-striker’s end before she was dismissed by Deepti Sharma on the 73rd instance of her leaving crease early during the third ODI.

Moreover, Della observed that none of Dean’s partners were leaving the popping crease before the ball was being bowled as they were alert at the non-striker’s end, looking at the bowler’s hand and leaving the crease only after the ball was released.

Earlier, Deepti Sharma claimed that the run-out was planned, but one that was developed only after numerous warnings to Dean.

“It was a plan because we had warned her [for leaving the crease early] multiple times. We did things as per the rules and guidelines. We told the umpires as well, but she was there [outside the crease]. We couldn’t do much,” Deepti told reporters on her return to Kolkata on Monday.

Later, injured England skipper Heather Knight hit back at the India all-rounder Deepti Sharma and accused her of “lying” and said that there were no warnings given to Charlotte Dean.

Knight took to Twitter and said, “The game is over, Charlie was dismissed legitimately. India were deserved winners of the match and the series. But no warnings were given. They don’t need to be given, so it hasn’t made the dismissal any less legitimate.”

“But if they’re comfortable with the decision to affect the runout, India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying about warnings,” Knight further added in her tweet on Monday.

With 17 runs needed to win the third and final match of the three-match ODI series, the 10th wicket partnership on 35, and Charlotte Dean edging closer to a fantastic half-century, drama unfolded at Lord’s with Deepti running Dean out at the non-striker’s end in her delivery stride.

As per the rules, if the batter at the non-striker’s end leaves his popping crease while the bowler is in his/her final delivery stride then the bowler can legally attempt to run out that batter.

Indian cricket legend Vinoo Mankad first did this during 1947-48 during India’s tour of Australia by running out Australia’s Bill Brown at the non-striker’s end, which earned it the name ‘Mankading’. Though many cricketers argue that it is against the spirit of the game, it is totally legal as per the law of the game.