Fixer talking about spirit: Fans troll former Pakistani pacer Mohd Asif for calling Deepti Sharma 'cheater'

Cricket fans went all guns blazing behind former Pakistan pacer Muhammad Asif for calling Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma a "cheater" for her run-out of English all-rounder Charlotte Dean during the third and final ODI of a three-match series between India and England.

The incident took place at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Saturday (September 24), when on the third delivery of the 44th over of run chase, Deepti dislodged the bails at the non-striker's end after Dean, in an attempt to take an unfair advantage, left the crease even before the ball was delivered.

Giving a superb example of her excellent match awareness, Deepti took a note of it and ran her out. The on-field umpire wasn’t sure about the development, and so, after consulting with the third-umpire, Dean was declared run out. The manner in which it all happened sparks a debate about whether it was the right move or not. But irrespective of anyone’s opinion, one can’t deny the fact that what Deepti did was within the rules and totally correct.

Many former greats, experts, fans, and current players expressed their opinions on this incident, but when former Pakistan cricketer Muhammad Asif joined the debate, he was endlessly criticised on Twitter for calling Deepti a cheater.

Asif used the microblogging site to post a picture of the dismissal and said that Deepti "cheated" by not showing the intention to bowl but had the intention of dislodging the bails at the non-striker's end. He further criticised the Indian all-rounder by calling her actions "unfair and terrible".

"We can see it clearly there is no intention of bowling the ball, she is looking towards non striker batter to cheat him. This is very unfair & terrible act worst spirit. #mankading #mankad #Cheater #INDvsENG," he tweeted.

His distasteful comment on the Indian cricketer didn’t go down well with fans who reminded him of the spot-fixing scandal for which he was handed a long-term ban back in 2011.

After the debate related to the dismissal gathered pace on Sunday, the MCC stamped its seal of approval on Deepti's run out by saying, "Whilst yesterday was indeed an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more," the MCC said in a statement. "MCC's message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground until they have seen the ball leave the bowler's hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen."