Vinoo Mankad had the Don on his side after he ran Bill Brown out © The Cricketer International

When is a batsman said to have been "Mankaded"?
When the batsman at the non-striker's end has backed up out of his crease and the bowler in his run-up (but before having entered his delivery stride) removes the bails with the batsman out of his crease, the batsman is said to have been "Mankaded". Technically, the dismissal falls under the run-out category.

Why is the dismissal so named?
The most famous instance of this mode of dismissal came when Vinoo Mankad ran Bill Brown out in the Sydney Test in 1947-48. Mankad, in the act of delivering the ball, held on to it and whipped the bails off with Brown well out of his crease. There was a previous to this, as Brown had been similarly dismissed by Mankad earlier during the tour too, in a match against an Australian XI, after having warned Brown that he was backing up too far. The dismissal got extensive coverage in the Australian press, with Mankad being accused of unsportsmanlike behaviour. The term "Mankaded" caught on in the wake of the controversy.

What are the other famous instances of Mankading?
Things got ugly when Kapil Dev ran Peter Kirsten out after repeated warnings in Port Elizabeth in 1992-93, the last such dismissal in international cricket. Kirsten walked off reluctantly after he was ruled out, while Kapil fumed angrily too.

Other instances of Mankading, in chronological order, are Ian Redpath by Charlie Griffith in Adelaide, 1968-69; Brian Luckhurst by Greg Chappell in Melbourne, 1974-75; Derek Randall by Ewan Chatfield in Christchurch, 1977-78; Sikander Bakht by Alan Hurst in Perth, 1978-79; and Grant Flower by Dipak Patel in Harare, 1992-93.

The Bakht dismissal had its part to play in an unsavoury moment later in the same Test, when Sarfraz Nawaz successfully appealed for a handled-the-ball dismissal against Andrew Hilditch when all Hilditch had done was return the ball to the bowler out of courtesy.

Among the most famous instances of a dismissal not being effected under this mode was when Courtney Walsh famously let Saleem Jaffar off with a warning in the last over of a 1987 World Cup match in Lahore. The last Pakistan pair was in and they needed four off the last ball when Walsh refused the run-out that would have sealed the match. Pakistan went on to win, which cost West Indies a potential semi-final place.

Can a bowler Mankad a batsman at any time?
It used to be that a bowler could dismiss a batsman in this fashion at any point in his run-up, delivery stride included. However, the Laws of cricket have since been changed to ensure that a bowler cannot run out a non-striker once he has entered his delivery stride.

The delivery stride is defined as the stride in the course of which the delivery swing is made: it starts when the bowler's back foot lands and ends when the front foot lands in the same stride.

Is it unsporting to Mankad a batsman?
The unwritten code of cricket suggests that a bowler ought to warn the batsman at least once before running him out. When Mankad was criticised for running Brown out, Don Bradman, Brown's captain then, defended Mankad solidly.

© Cricinfo