10 Weirdest dismissals in Test cricket history

10 Weirdest dismissals in Test cricket history: In cricket there are many ways in which a batsman gets dismissed. But there is a stark difference between usual ways of getting out and the unusual ones. If a batsman gets out bowled, caught, leg before wicket (LBW), stumped, run-out and hit wicket then there is nothing new in that. But if someone gets out by the way of hitting the ball twice, handling the ball, obstructing the field and timed out, then it hogs a tremendous amount of limelight and makes for something interesting. Something out of the blue and freakish is always welcomed and loved by the cricket fans as well as no one likes monotonous things happening again and again and such weird dismissals adds up spice in the game. Today, we have made a compilation of a unique list the 10 Weirdest dismissals in Test cricket history: 1. Bill Brown (Australia): (source) In 1947 during Australia v Indian Sydney Test, a very unique and complex form of run-out happened. We are talking about the Australian cricketer Bill Brown who was found guilty of backing up too far at the non-striker’s end and as a result, Vinod Mankad ran him out. The run-out had hogged the headlines of many Australian national dailies. Since this incident, a batsman who gets dismissed in this fashion is said to be “Mankaded”. It is worth mentioning that Mankad had earlier warned Bill not to back up that far at the non-striker’s end in some earlier tour game and had threatened him if he did that again then he would not hesitate from dislodging the bails which he eventually did on this occasion. 2. Sir Len Hutton (England): (source) The heart and soul of the English batting line-up during his playing days, Len Hutton is also the first batsmen in international cricket to get out for obstructing the field. It was his 100th Test inning when he was batting on 27 runs against South Africa in 1951 when this incident occurred. The leggie Athol Rowan had induced top-edge off Hutton’s bat and in order to prevent the ball from disturbing the woodwork Hutton tried to hit it away, which prevented the wicket-keeper Russell Endean from reaching the ball. The umpires ruled him out for obstructing the field. 3. Russell Endean (South Africa): (source) In January 1957 the South African Wicket-keeper batsman Russell Endean was dismissed handling the ball against England at Cape Town. The bowler was England’s majestic spinner Jim Laker and Russell tried to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps and padded it away as if some hockey goal-keeper. He was ruled out by the umpires in accordance to the Law 33 “Handled the ball”. Endean became the first player in international cricket to be dismissed for handling the ball. It is notable that Endean had a part in two highly weird Test match dismissals, once as a wicket-keeper in Len Hutton’s “obstructing the field” dismissal and then as a batsman in this particular dismissal. 4. Andrew Hilditch (Australia): It took further 22 years after which a bizarre dismissal occurred in Test cricket. The Australian player Andrew Hilditch was batting on 29 runs against Pakistan at Perth in 1979 when he was adjudged out for handling the ball. But in reality the batter was just handling back the ball to the Pakistan bowler Sarfraz Nawaz who in an unsporting way appealed for “handled the ball” law and the umpire had to give him out. You could say it was just an adverse effect of the dismissal which had taken place a day earlier in the Test match when the Aussie team had run-out a Pakistani batsman for backing up too far at the non-striker’s end. 5. Mohsin Khan (Pakistan): (source) During the 1982 Karachi Test match between Pakistan and Australia, Mohsin Khan became the victim of an unusual dismissal. He was going well and batting on 58 runs when Geoff Lawson bowled a speedy delivery to Khan who tried to defend the ball but it started coming towards his stumps. Mohsin sensed that it would hit his stumps and in an instant swiped away the red cherry with his hand. As a result the Pakistani opener was given out for handling the ball. 6. Desmond Haynes (West Indies): Desmond Haynes. (Photo Source: PA Photos) The dashing West Indian batter Desmond Haynes is the only batsman from his country to appear in this list. In November 1983 against India at Mumbai, Haynes flicked away the ball with his hand which got him out. It was a swinging ball from Kapil Dev which had deceived him and was moving towards the stumps after brushing his pads. Eventually Haynes got out handling the ball and became the fourth batsman to be dismissed in such a fashion in Test cricket. 7. Graham Gooch (England): It was after 42 long years that an English batsman was dismissed in an unusual way after Len Hutton had got out obstructing the field in the eras of 1950. Graham Gooch hit away the ball from his right glove when a Merv Hughes delivery had bounced upwards and was about to crash the stumps. The Test match took place at Old Trafford in 1993 between the fierce rivals England and Australia. 8. Steve Waugh (Australia): In a Test match between India and Australia at Chennai in 2001, the former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had became the second Australian player in the Test cricket to fall prey to “handled the ball” law. Harbhajan Singh had bowled a quicker delivery which kissed his pads and bounced up in the air and was on its way to hit the stumps before Waugh intervened in between with his right-hand. 9. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka): Marvan Atapattu. (© AFP/Getty Images) In a Test match against Bangladesh at Colombo in September 2001, the Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya had called in Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene after they crossed the individual landmark of 200 and 150 runs respectively. Firstly, it was Atapattu who was called in and he became the first cricketer to be ”retired out” since the advent of the Test cricket in 1877. Then it was turn of Jayawardene who was retired out. In cricket, a batsman retires out if he retires without the umpire’s permission, and does not have the permission of the opposition captain to resume his innings. Jayasuriya faced a lot of criticism for this act. 10. Michael Vaughan (England): Michael Vaughan. (© Getty Images) The former English captain Michael Vaughan became victim of handling the ball when his mind got shut down in the moment of confusion. He thought that the ball would hit the stumps which was never the case. We are talking about the Bangalore Test between India v England in 2001. Vaughan had attempted sweep shot on the bowling of Sarandeep Singh whose deceptive delivery out foxed him and it got trapped underneath his body. In confusion Vaughan grabbed the ball with his hand which was never heading towards the stumps due to which he had to take the long walk towards the pavilion after making 64 runs.

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10 Weirdest dismissals in Test cricket history

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