On “Mankading” the art of winning at all costs

For the average Joe, the term “Mankading” probably means nothing. Unless you are a cricket aficionado, you probably have never ever encountered the word. I too had never heard the term until I heard it being used to refer to an incident that happened at a recent Indian Premier League 20–20 game. Ashwin, captain and ace spinner of the Kings XI Punjab was accused of running out a set batsman Josh Buttler of the Rajasthan Royals. Buttler was standing out of his crease whilst Ashwin was in the act of delivering a ball, so he ran him out. Ashwin took a lot of heat for his act. Cricket 🏏 being a gentleman’s sport, Ashwin was expected to inform the batsman that if he continues to go out of his crease when Ashwin runs in to bowl, he would run him out (as by doing so the batsman gets an unfair advantage of taking off for a run sooner).

Now if you have ever watched baseball ⚾️, this is akin to stealing a base. The runner try’s to rush from one base to the other as the Pitcher is focused on delivering his pitch. It is common for the Pitcher to turn around and throw the ball to the second or third base to run out the batter who is trying yo steal a base. This is a common occurrence in almost every game. There is no Mankading conversation in baseball. It is considered to be within the Pitchers rights to run out someone who is stealing a base.

If you have ever watched soccer ⚽️ or what most of the rest of the world calls football, you might be familiar with flops. Some players are more notorious than the others for doing so. When they take a fall they make it look worse than it really is, causing the referee to award them a penalty kick, or give the player from the other team a yellow card or a red card. Then there is that infamous “Hand of God” goal scored by Matadona in the World Cup. It seems cheeky that a player is using guile to gain a seemingly unfair advantage. But then like they say — “All is fair in Love, War & Sports”. Seems like Mankading to me but we don’t complain if our team is winning. We see this flop phenomenon ( Rodmans flop in basketball is quite famous ) repeat in other sports too — basketball 🏀, ice hockey 🏒.

This phenomenon is not restricted to only sports. It happens in all walks of life. If you are a driver, you probably stopped someone from overtaking you by blocking his or her lane. You probably stole a parking spot from someone who was there before you. Maybe you took a short cut to beat someone to the checkout line in Costco or at your local grocery store. I must admit I have done all of these. Some of these are very trivial and inconsequential as they only cause a minor delay to someone else.

At school, at college and at work there are attempts to take unfair advantage. If you know something that others don’t then you put yourself in a position to get a better grade or a raise or a promotion. Kind of like Martha Stewart getting tipped off about a stock before the rest of the world knew. In Martha’s case she suffered the consequences, for the SEC went after her. But like it or not Mankading abounds in the world around us. A student gets a copy of last years exam from a senior but doesn’t share with the rest of the class. He has time to prepare for the questions and answers them better than his classmates who have to think on the fly to answer the paper. He or she aces the test and gets the top grade. At college you hear of this research position and apply for it before any one else finds out. You end up getting the funds and a chance to build your reputation even if you were not the most qualified. At work you read an email about some changes that someone had left at the printer and get the opportunity to plan ahead for the upcoming layoff. You use the knowledge to save your job at the cost of others.

It might be morally wrong to gain an unfair advantage, but when no one but God is looking you get to set your rules. So then why do we cry foul when an Ashwin or a Rodman or a Maradona or a Martha Stewart are caught Mankading. They are all human too. So is Mankading in private good but not so when it is out in the public’s purview. We all need to revisit our moral compass.

Is life just about winning or is it about the journey? Many of us make it out to be the former only to realize in our later years that our laser focus on winning has made us oblivious to the journey itself. The beauty of life is in the participation, not in being the winner or loser. Playing the game in the true spirit, the best team or best man or women wins with all things being equal ( in the absence of Mankading). The same should apply in all walks of life. So the next time an opportunity to Mankad presents itself to you take a derp breath and make the right choice !