Deepak Chahar removed bails as Innocent Kaia backed up too far from the non-striker’s end, but let him go with a warning during the third ODI played between India and Zimbabwe in Harare on August 22.
In an eventful incident during the third and final game of the series, Chahar almost produced a run-out without a ball being bowled in the hosts’ run-chase of 290.
As Chahar ran in to bowl the first ball of the innings to Takudzwanashe Kaitano, non-striker Innocent Kaia set off from his crease, backing up. The bowler spotted it during his run-up, and whipped the bails off with the batter well outside. However, there was no appeal being made, with Chahar offering a smile to the batter and the umpire before walking back to his mark.
The right-arm quick eventually trapped Kaia leg-before in the third over of the innings for 6 – the first of his two wickets on a day he returned 2/75 from 10 overs. India won a close contest by 13 runs to sweep the series 3-0.
The incident prompted quite a lot of discussions from fans and experts alike, with parallels being drawn to Ravichandran Ashwin’s similar attempts from the past. He had attempted to dismiss Sri Lanka batter Lahiru Thirimanne in a similar manner in a Commonwealth Bank tri-series in Australia back in 2012, but the appeal was eventually withdrawn by Virender Sehwag, who was captaining India in the game.
Seven years later, Ashwin, leading the Punjab Kings, dismissed a well-set Jos Buttler for having backed up too far from the non-striker’s end in an IPL 2019 game. The dismissal had sparked controversy, and there followed quite a lot of debating from the cricketing world over Ashwin’s act.
Earlier this year, the MCC, with reference to the mode of dismissal, stated:
“The bowler is always painted as the villain but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground. It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws.”
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Deepak Chahar’s attempt:
