The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), guardians of the laws of cricket, clarified on Monday that the controversial run-out during the Bangladesh vs Pakistan ODI match was correctly given out under the Laws of Cricket.
“Under Laws, there is little that either umpire could have done differently. The non-striker was clearly out of his ground when the wicket was broken, and the ball was in play. That is out,” MCC said in a statement.
The MCC statement further read, “It is also worth pointing out that the non-striker had left his ground when the ball was in play and had just started to attempt to regain his ground when he collided with Mehidy.
Furthermore, no batter should attempt to pick the ball up without the consent of the fielding side, and had he done so, he would have been at risk of an Obstructing the field dismissal. In retrospect, he would have been better using that time to attempt to regain his ground. “
Pakistan batter Salman Ali Agha was involved in a rare and controversial dismissal during the second ODI against Bangladesh played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka last week.
The incident occurred in the 39th over of Pakistan’s innings when the visitors were building a strong partnership. Agha and Mohammad Rizwan were on the crease and had added 109 runs for the fourth wicket after Pakistan lost three early wickets.
On the fourth delivery of the over, bowled by Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rizwan played a gentle push down the ground. The ball rolled towards Agha, who was standing outside his crease at the non-striker’s end after backing up.
As the ball made contact with his pads, Agha bent down and tried to pick it up. Miraz quickly collected the ball and broke the stumps with Agha still outside the crease, appealing for a run-out.
The on-field umpire upheld the appeal and referred the decision upstairs. The third umpire also ruled in Bangladesh’s favour, confirming Agha’s dismissal.
The decision left Agha visibly frustrated as he walked back to the pavilion. Visuals showed the Pakistan batter expressing his displeasure after the dismissal.
On the suggestions that the ball should have been declared dead, MCC clarified, “There have been some suggestions that the ball should have been treated as Dead. That is not viable under the Laws; the ball does not become dead when players collide – if it did, that would incentivise players to seek out collisions when the situation was advantageous. There was no question of a serious injury, so there could be no call of Dead ball for that. It could not have been clear to the umpire that all the players ceased to consider the ball to be in play, since Mehidy clearly believed it was live, even if Agha did not. And it cannot have been finally settled in the hands of the bowler or wicket-keeper, since it was on the ground.”
