England missed an opportunity to complete a series clean sweep against Australia on Friday as the third T20 International was abandoned due to rains, but the match hit global headlines for Mitchell Starc’s dig at Indian woman player Deepti Sharma over Mankad controversy.
In a rain-curtailed match, England made 112-2 in 12 overs with Jos Buttler playing an unbeaten knock of 65 from 41 balls. Australia were 30-3 in 3.5 overs when the match was called off due to rain, giving England a 2-0 series win ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, a video of Starc warning Buttler for not leaving the non-striker’s end has gone viral on social media platforms. In the video, Starc could be heard warning Buttler for not leaving his crease as he took a potshot at Deepti Sharma.
Dawid Malan was on the strike in the fifth over of the England innings when Starc spotted that Buttler had left the crease too early even before he could bowl his delivery. He told Buttler, “I am not Deepti, but I won’t do it. Doesn’t mean you can leave early.”
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What do you think about this event between Mitchell Starc and @josbuttler? 🤔#JosButtler #MitchellStarc #AUSvENG #SonySportsNetwork pic.twitter.com/rA3D5yxwFP
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) October 14, 2022
To which, Buttler replied, “I don’t think I did.”
India’s Deepti Sharma had recently courted controversy after she ran out England’s Charlie Dean for leaving her crease too early.
Sharma’s decision to Mankad England batter Charlie Dean to secure a win for India had earned her plenty of criticism. Many felt that Sharma did not need to resort to this unsavoury method to dismiss the English batter since India had already won the series. Previously, R Ashwin, another Indian bowler, has had to face criticism for trying to dismiss batters using the Mankad method.
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Dean was seen crying after being dismissed by the Mankad method. She was batting at 47 when Sharma ran her out by Mankadding. The controversy had later led to a Twitter spat between England Test skipper Ben Stokes and Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle.