Shpageeza league 2020: Dawlat Zadran runs out Noor Ali Zadran at non-striker's end

Afghanistan fast bowler Dawlat Zadran ran out Noor Ali Zadran in his delivery stride at the non-striker's end after Noor Ali had backed up too far in a T20 match in the Shpageeza cricket league in Kabul. The dismissal happened in the 16th over of Kabul Eagles' chase of 164 when Mis Ainak Knights' Dawlat ran in, spotted the non-striker wandering out of the crease, and knocked the bails off.

Dawlat isn't the first Afghanistan bowler to run out a batsman at the non-striker's end this year. Earlier, in the Under-19 World Cup in January in South Africa, Noor Ahmad, Dawlat's team-mate at Knights, ran out Pakistan's Mohammad Huraira at the non-striker's end in the fourth Super League quarter-final, whipping the bails off in his delivery stride with the opener having left his crease.

Afghanistan captain Farhan Zakhil, however, felt after the match that the act was not "in the spirit of the game".

It was R Ashwin who had sparked off a big debate on this particular mode of dismissal after he ran out Jos Buttler in a similar fashion at the non-striker's end in IPL 2019. Although Ashwin's action was within the laws of the game, the MCC had called it against the spirit of cricket. The mode of dismissal continues to polarise the cricket community.

"On my part, it was very instinctive," Ashwin had said. "It was not planned or anything like that. It's there within the rules of the game. I don't understand where the spirit of the game comes; naturally if it's there in the rules, it's there."

Ricky Ponting, Ashwin's coach at Delhi Capitals, believes a non-striker stealing yards before the bowler has released the ball is cheating, but he still doesn't think running the batsman out is the ideal way to keep him in the crease.

Javagal Srinath, the former India seamer and current ICC match referee, said he was "perfectly fine" with bowlers running out batsmen who tried to gain advantage by leaving the crease early.

Two balls before running out Noor Ali for 61, Dawlat had bowled Samiullah Shenwari for 2, but despite that double-wicket over, Eagles completed their chase with four wickets and six balls to spare.

The Shpageeza league kicked off in Kabul on Sunday without their stars Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi. The trio has been allowed by the ACB to continue playing in the CPL in Trinidad, despite a scheduling clash with Afghanistan's premier T20 tournament. The three players will then head to the IPL in the UAE from CPL. Naveen-ul-Haq, Zahir Khan, and Najibullah Zadran, who are also part of the CPL, will return to Kabul for the Shpageeza league after their Caribbean stints.