- Monday, November 25, 2024
The incident happened exactly a month after Bangladesh appealed against Sri Lanka batter Angelo Mathews for delaying proceedings in a World Cup match and he was timed out.
By: Shubham Ghosh
EXACTLY a month since the timed-out dismissal of Sri Lanka batter Angelo Mathews in the ICC Men’s 50-over World Cup in Delhi, India, Bangladesh found one of their experienced batters getting out in another bizarre manner in the second Test against New Zealand at home on Wednesday (6).
Thirty-six-year-old batter Mushfiqur Rahim, who has been playing international cricket since 2005 and a veteran of 87 Test matches, pushed the ball with his right hand after playing a defensive shot against fast bowler Kyle Jamieson. The ball was not even heading towards the stump. The fielding side appealed against the act and after TV umpire gave his verdict in favour of the Kiwis that saw Rahim becoming the first Bangladesh batter to get out for handling the ball.
The incident happened on the first day of the second Test match between the two sides at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur in Dhaka.
The departure of the batter (35 off 83 balls), who is not keeping in the match, saw the hosts slump to 104 for 5 with the 57-run partnership between the former and Shahadat Hossain (31) coming to an end. Rahim in fact nearly handled the ball earlier in the innings.
The ‘handling the ball’ law has been subsumed now into ‘obstructing the field’ under Law 37 of the Marylebone Cricket Club but still remains in force.
Rahim became the first batter in 22 years to get out handling the ball after Michael Vaughan got out similarly in a Test against India in Bengaluru. Former Australia captain Steve Waugh also got out handling the ball against India in a Test in Chennai.
Bangladesh, who are leading the two-Test series 1-0, however, were in the driver’s seat at stumps on Day 1. They reduced New Zealand to 55 for 5 after getting bowled out for 172 runs in their first essay.
