In the 41st over, Mushfiqur found himself dismissed for obstructing the field, marking the first instance of a Bangladesh Men’s batter falling in this manner. The veteran player, facing the ball, instinctively extended his right hand to ward it off, despite the ball being far from the stumps. The ensuing confusion left Mushfiqur perplexed about the unfolding events.
New Zealand players appealed, prompting the on-field umpires to refer the decision to the third umpire for a review. After scrutinizing the replays, the TV umpire concluded that Mushfiqur intentionally impeded the ball and ruled him out.
Since 2017, the act of handling the ball has been incorporated into the concept of obstructing the field in the Laws of Cricket. The relevant rules state that a batter is out obstructing the field if, while the ball is in play, they willfully attempt to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action.
In this case, with Mushfiqur ‘wilfully’ pushing the ball away while it was still in play, he had to depart to the dressing room after scoring 35 runs off 83 balls. This incident not only marked Mushfiqur’s unique dismissal but also represented the first instance of a batter being dismissed for obstructing the field in Tests since the rule update in 2017. Prior to this update, seven batters had been given out for ‘handling the ball’ in Men’s Tests history.
