Talk of weird ways to be dismissed in cricket!
Batter Saud Shakeel became the first Pakistani player to be given ‘timed out’, during the final of the President's Cup first-class tournament in Rawalpindi. He has also become the seventh batter overall to be dismissed in this manner.
Shakeel, who recently struck a half-century against India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, was playing for State Bank against PTV in the title clash that was being held under floodlights due to Ramadan, between 7.30pm to 2.30am.
He, reportedly, fell asleep in the dressing room while waiting for his turn to bat when two wickets fell in the space of two balls – both Umar Amin and Fawad Alam falling to pacer Muhammad Shahzad.
Shakeel reached the crease after the three-minute time limit allowed for a new batter to come in and take guard. PTV skipper Ammad Butt appealed for a time-out dismissal, and the umpires upheld it.
Shahzad then bowled the next batter Irfan Khan Niazi to complete his hat-trick. He went on to take a fifer and score a century in the match.
'Timed Out' rule in cricket explained
MCC’s rule book says that a batter is ‘timed out’ if:
“After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the dismissal or retirement.”
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The bowler does not get the credit for the wicket.
At the 2023 ODI World Cup, Bangladesh skipper Shakib-ul-Hasan Sri Lanka had successfully appealed for a ‘timed out’ decision against Angelo Matthews, thus making the latter the first batter to be dismissed thus in international cricket.
