T20 World Cup 2024 | Social Media Erupts over Bangladesh Being Robbed of Four Runs Due to Dead-Ball Rule

Bangladesh batter Mahmudullah Riyaz’s dismissal became a controversial moment in the T20 World Cup game against South Africa as he was not given four runs in spite of the ball rolling to the boundary after hitting the pads of the batter. The controversial dead-ball rule was the reason behind it and the social media users expressed themselves over his wicket.

Hyderabad: The dead-ball rule which has been a point of discussion amongst the cricket fraternity came to the fore once again in the game between South Africa and Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2024 match at Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday. Bangladesh fell agonisingly short of the target as they lost the match by four runs and questions were asked by Netizens over whether they were being robbed of a win.

The incident occurred in the 17th over when Ottneil Baartman bowled a full delivery on the leg stump to Mahmudullah who was shuffling across the stumps. The batter missed the flick and the ball ran to the fine-leg fence after hitting his pads. The umpire raised his finger after the bowler appealed for a LBW.

The 38-year-old Bangladesh batter then took a review and the decision was overturned since the ball was missing the leg-stump. However, four runs were not given to the batting side in spite of the ball running down to the boundary line as the call was made by the umpire even before the ball reaching the boundary.

• What the rulebook says

3.7.1 If following a Player Review request, an original decision of Out is changed to Not out, then the ball is still deemed to have become dead when the original decision was made (as per clause 20.1.1.3). The batting side, while benefiting from the reversal of the dismissal, shall not benefit from any runs that may subsequently have accrued from the delivery had the on-field umpire originally made a Not out decision, other than any No ball penalty that could arise under paragraph 3.3.5 above.

3.7.2 If an original decision of Not out is changed to Out, the ball shall retrospectively be deemed to have become dead from the moment of the dismissal event. All subsequent events, including any runs scored, shall be ignored.

Law 20.1.1.3 of the Dead Ball law (the most important law in cricket) says that “a batter is dismissed. The ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal.”

• Uproar on social media

As soon as the incident unfolded, there were a lot of reactions on the social media including former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer.

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