An India-Pakistan match without a controversy just doesn’t seem possible anymore. On Sunday, in the second innings of the 2025 Women’s World Cup clash between the rivals at Colombo, huge drama broke out when Pakistani opener Muneeba Ali was given out run-out in the middle of a run-out appeal.
On the last ball of the fourth over, Kranti Gaud appealed for an LBW against Muneeba. The on-field umpire gave it not-out. As the appeal was dying down, the stumps at the striker’s end were lit up, and the Indians appealed for a run-out: the ever-ready Deepti Sharma had hit a direct hit, sensing an opportunity.
India didn’t appeal for LBW, and initially, the game seemed to be moving ahead. But then the umpires checked for a run-out. Muneeba was initially out of
her crease, but brought her bat down. The third umpire checked it and gave it not-out, and it showed on the big screen as such as well.
Then, another check was conducted. This time, the umpire checked the footage and confirmed that when the ball hit the stumps and the bails came off, Muneeba’s bat was not touching the ground but instead in the air over the crease as she had pulled it back up. The big screen flashed again, this time with ‘Out’, and the Indians ran in celebration, while Muneeba was naturally upset and crestfallen.
She might feel unlucky, too. For the uninitiated, such calls were usual in cricket until a few years ago, when the rules required some part of the body to be inside the crease when the bails are taken off. However, that rule was changed later: it now said that the batter needed to return to the crease, get some part of the body/bat inside, and even if it was in the air when the bails were taken off, they’d be considered safe.
There’s a good chance that’s what Muneeba and the Pakistanis believed. However, there’s a catch: the ICC rules mention that this applies when the batter is ‘running or diving’ towards the crease.
Law 30.1.1 states, “A batter shall be considered to be out of his/her ground unless some part of his/her person or bat is grounded behind the popping crease at that end.”
Law 30.1.2 adds, “However, a batter shall not be considered to be out of his/her ground if, in running or diving towards his/her ground and beyond, and having grounded some part of his/her person or bat beyond the popping crease, there is subsequent loss of contact between the ground and any part of his/her person or bat, or between the bat and person.”
Muneeba, on the other hand, was not in the middle of a run and failed to keep her bat grounded while simply tracking back. Hence, the umpires can’t be faulted for following the rule by the letter and giving her out.
After all, the rule was changed to allow for batters whose momentum takes the bat in the air even after they cross the crease in time. Even if Muneeba was unlucky, it was her mistake, as per the rules.
