While his hopes of joining the record books with a fourth consecutive ODI century were not fulfilled in the second ODI against West Indies, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam did get his name in the news for bringing into play a rarely used law of cricket. Babar’s “illegal fielding” cost Pakistan five runs in the match.
The Pakistan skipper inadvertently gifted the visitors five additional runs in the second ODI here on Friday. Though it did not impact the result of the match as Pakistan won by a huge 120-run margin, it did bring into focus the law of “illegal fielding”.
In the 29th over of the West Indies innings, Babar Azam was spotted to have picked up one of the wicket-keeping gloves from Mohammad Rizwan and used it to collect a throw behind the stumps.
This was deemed as illegal fielding by the on-field umpires, who as a result, added five extra runs to the West Indies total, said a report on the ICC’s official website.
According to the report, Babar’s action in the field set into motion clause 28.1 of Laws of Cricket.
Rule 28.1 about Protective equipment, says “No fielder other than the wicket-keeper shall be permitted to wear gloves or external leg guards. In addition, protection for the hand or fingers may be worn only with the consent of the umpires.”
It’s one of those rare situations which we don’t witness in cricket very often and it’s certainly one which Azam would like to forget soon, the report said.
The incident did not have a serious impact on the match as Pakistan went on to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series thanks to the captain’s 77 and a 4/19 effort by left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz.
