5 Weirdest dismissals in cricket history

There are a total of 10 ways in which a batsman can get out in cricket. This includes being bowled, being run-out, being caught and many other modes of dismissal.

However, at times, a batsman can get out in a fashion in which no one can expect. There have been many instances which would make fans laugh by looking at the way a batsman got out. Hence, we, at CricTracker decided to make a list of the five weirdest dismissals in cricket history.

Without further to do, let us jump into the list:

1. Azhar Ali

As Azhar Ali said in the post-match interview, “My sons will remember it. People will ask me about this for a long time.”  Surely, this incident is such an iconic one that people will talk about it in some years to come. It happened during Pakistan’s Test match against Australia in 2018 in Abu Dhabi.

Azhar has hit the ball towards the third man boundary. The ball kept going to the fence, only to stop inches away from the fence itself. However, the two batsmen, Azhar and Asad Shafiq thought that the ball had rolled down and touched the boundary.

This made the two stand in the middle of the pitch and chat. Mitchell Starc who was chasing the ball quickly picked up the ball and threw it back to the wicketkeeper. Australian skipper Tim Paine then collected the ball and dislodged the stumps, causing the most hilarious run-out incidents of all time.

The Pakistan batsmen were confused and they kept standing in the middle as the Australians, aware of the situations started celebrating the wicket. The umpire came and asked Azhar to leave for the dressing room as he was run out by all means.

2. Timed out due to flight delay

Getting out by the timed out dismissal method is very rare in cricket. When a new batsman can’t appear to bat after a two minute of the previous dismissal, then he is considered timed-out if the fielding team appeals. This doesn’t often happen in cricket but happened once in 2002, and for the weirdest reason for all-time.

The batsman was Vasbert Drakes. It was a match between Border and Free State in South African domestic first-class competition. Drakes was returning from his homeland of West Indies to East London on the day the match was going to stay. Luckily, the Border, the team the West Indian pacer was representing batted first. His flight was due to land in East London at 2 PM.

However, Border’s batting line-up disappointed. By 2:07 PM, they were nine wickets down. Drakes hadn’t reached the stadium yet and was given out by the timed-out rule. It was later found out that his flight got delayed because of which he didn’t arrive on time. As it turned out, Drakes became a part of history due to this strange form of dismissal.

3. Jaw Before Wicket

The leg before wicket rule of dismissal in cricket is very common. Some of us might also remember the infamous “shoulder before wicket” dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar in the 1999 Adelaide Test against Australia off the bowling of Glenn McGrath. However, the one which we are gonna talk about is probably more strange that Tendulkar’s one.

This incident took place during a county championship match between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire in 1961. The Gloucestershire skipper Tom Pugh was facing some serious bowling from David Larter. When the bowler bowled a full toss ball, Pugh tried to duck.

In an attempt to do that, the ball landed straight on the jaw of the poor Pugh. This broke the jaw of the batsman. But while he was trying to recover from this shock, he saw the umpire slowly raising his finger. As it turned out, the batsman was caught right in front of the stumps. This became a famous dismissal and probably the strangest one as well.

4. Saurabh Tiwary

Sometimes, luck doesn’t go in your way when you have done everything right. This is exactly how one can describe what happened with Saurabh Tiwary during the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in 2008 in Kuala Lampur. The left-handed batsman had opted for a runner as he was struggling to run between the wickets.

Everything was fine until the wicketkeeper decided to stand close to the stumps. As the Jharkhand batsman missed one ball, the South African U19 keeper grabbed the ball and dislodged the stumps, appealing for a stumping. Tiwary was quite certain that he was not out as he was inside the crease and didn’t even lift up his foot.

However, the replay showed that his runner was actually out of his crease. The umpire had to adjudge him out and his knock in the historic final ended in the most bizarre fashion. Incidentally, India won the match by a small margin and lifted the World Cup after eight years.

5. Inzamam-ul-Haq

Inzamam-ul-Haq has been part of many dismissals which are quite funny to watch even today. However, most of them are run-outs. However, the one which we are going to talk about is not a run-out.

The incident took place during an ODI match between India and Pakistan in Peshawar in 2006. The hosts were in a commanding position and were looking to capture an easy win. The Pakistan skipper nudged one ball to the mid-off fielder. The fielder threw the ball back to the wicket-keeper.

However, Inzamam was standing in the middle of that. In an attempt to stop the ball from hitting him, Inzy raised his bat. As he was out of his crease and was stopping the ball from reaching the stumps, the players of the Indian team appealed. He was given out by the umpire by the rule of obstructing the field.

Later on, in the post-match presentation, the Pakistan captain said, “I don’t understand the rule. The last time a ball was thrown at me, I moved away and the umpire gave me out. This time I stopped it, I was still got out. I don’t seem to understand the rule.”