Mumbai: Cricket is a funny game that has seen many eye-catching moments that involved both players and fans. When it comes to dismissals, there have been some strange ones worth remembering.
Once such incident happened on Saturday when Australia won the controversial second ODI at Lord’s by 64 runs to go 2-0 ahead in the five-match series. But the flashpoint moment came in the 25th over of England's reply. All-rounder Ben Stokes struck a straight drive which was stopped by bowler Mitchell Starc.
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Australia appealed and Stokes was given out by the TV umpire Joel Wilson for 'obstructing the field' for stopping Starc's throw at the stumps. The relevant cricket Law or rule talks about "wilful obstruction" and does allow batsmen to protect themselves from injury. After lengthy deliberation, the West Indian official Wilson gave Stokes out for 10, sparking a chorus of boos.
The controversy has been trending on social media. Here’s a look at some other examples of batsmen that have been sent off in a weird manner.
Chris Read (Lord's 1999)
Chris Read will find it hard to forget this dismissal when he was clean bowled off a Chris Cairns delivery. In his second Test match, what was bizarre was that Read had misjudged the line and length completely and tried to duck, leaving the ball to go beyond his legs and crash the woodwork.
Inzamam-ul-haq (Leed's 2006)
Inzamam-ul-Haq was trying to sweep a full delivery but in the end, ended up falling directly on the stumps on the third day of the Headingley Test during Pakistan’s 2006 tour to England. Inzi lost control while Monty Panesar was bowling and it turned out to be one of the funniest dismissals ever!
Mankading
This kind of a dismissal is quite famous in gully cricket where the bowler often keeps an eye out on the non-striker's position. And if the non-striker does leave the crease, the bowler knocks off the bails before the ball is bowled. This is a legal way of dismissal in international cricket too, known as 'Mankading'. In 1947, during the second Test match against Australia at Sydney, Indian left-arm spinner Vinoo Mankad ran Bill Brown out for the second time in a similar fashion.
