Isuru Udana wins hearts of his fans
Sports Desk
ISLAMABAD:-Sri Lankan all-rounder Isuru Udana has won the hearts of his fans. The 32-year-old Udana, now playing the Mzansi Super League (MSL) in South Africa for Paarl Rocks, had all the time in the world to run out the batsman of the opposite team but decided against it because the non-striker Marco Marais was directly hit by a shot from his team mate Heino Kuhn.
“Spirit of cricket Raise your hand for more moments like this! Always!” MSL tweeted from its official Twitter account. "I noticed that the non-striker was hurt badly and so I decided not to run him out", Udana, speaking exclusively to this Reporter, said.
Incidentally, Udana had replaced David Willey as Paarl Rocks' international marquee player for the second edition of the Mzansi Super League. Willey had been ruled out due to the need to manage his workload.
In 1964, England v Australia, Trent Bridge Test match, Australian wicket-keeper Wally Grout sportingly threw the ball aside and refused to run out Fred Titmus after he was accidentally knocked over by bowler Neil Hawke and left stranded.
Sadly, there have been one or two cases of the polar opposite in sportsmanship in recent years, Grant Elliott coming to mind as a victim.