On day 2 of the historic pink ball Test between India and Australia, Punam Raut decided to walk away having edged it to the keeper. Although the appeal from the Aussies wasn’t vehement and the umpire had not ruled her out, Raut started walking back, and it stirred plenty of responses from social media.
Punam Raut’s decision to walk away had brought up the Spirit of Cricket debate yet again, with her incident being used as an example to further their arguments in another heated debate of recent days, between Ravichandran Ashwin and Eoin Morgan.
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Raut had scored 36 runs in 165 balls, and her wicket brought an end to a 102-run stand alongside Smriti Mandhana.
While speaking to the press, Mandhana mentioned that the incident only earned Raut a lot of respect from the team. The stylish left-handed batter chipped in with a historic century for India, that allowed her side to post 377 runs before declaring. She mentioned that not many cricketers would’ve done what she did.
“First, we reacted, like, ‘Oh, why did she do that?’ But, then, of course, it’s something that we all respect a lot. I think she has earned a lot of respect from all the teammates that she actually walked out.
And I don’t know how many people would actually do that in cricket at the moment – men’s or women’s,”
Mandhana told ESPNcricinfo.
Raut’s decision caused quite a stir on social media. While many decided to respect her choice, some others pointed that Cricketers should stop doing that as this will only be done in selective moments. Raut made her international debut in 2009 and earned 73 ODI caps and 35 in T20Is.
The one-off Test is heading towards a draw, despite Meg Lanning’s decision to declare on the final day with Australia’s first innings score at 241/9.
India had earned a 146-run lead but with not a lot of time remaining, it will be difficult for India to set a total and defend it on the day.
