Pakistan opening batter Muneeba Ali was dismissed in bizarre fashion during the ODI World Cup clash against India in Colombo on Sunday. The left-handed batter was adjudged run out despite appearing to ground her bat before the ball hit the stumps. The incident took place in the final delivery of the fourth over. An incoming delivery from Kranti Goud struck Muneeba on her pads, and the Indians, expectedly, went up in appeal. The umpire gave it not out, and the batter, who was outside her crease, got back to ground her bat inside the crease. However, after grounding her bat, Muneeba lifted her willow again, and Deepti Sharma’s throw at the stumps hit timber. Again, it led to loud appeals among the Indian fielders, and the on-field officials decided to take matters upstairs. Replays suggested that Muneeba had grounded her bat before lifting it a second time, which coincided with the ball hitting the stumps. The third umpire, Keerin Klaaste, gave it out after a long delay, much to the delight of the Indians, but it left the Pakistani players and many others around the world confused over what had happened. Fatima Sana was seen having a long argument with fourth umpire Kim Cotton at the boundary line as Muneeba waited before leaving the field. Eventually she did. What just happened there? 😮👀 Appeal? Not out? But wait. Deepti Sharma's sharp instincts helped #TeamIndia get the first breakthrough! 💪🏻🇮🇳 Catch the LIVE action ➡ 👉 #INDvPAK | LIVE NOW on Star Sports network & JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/TVxuoGfYC4 — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 5, 2025 What does the law say? Here's why it was correctly given out As per law 30.1.1 of the rule book, a batter shall be considered to be out of her ground unless some part of her person or bat is grounded behind the popping crease at that end. As per 30.1.2, however, a batter shall not be considered to be out of her ground if, in running or diving towards her ground and beyond, and having grounded some part of her person or bat beyond the popping crease, there is subsequent loss of contact between the ground and any part of her person or bat, or between the bat and person. Going by the second part, Muneeba was given out as an extension of 30.1.2. She did ground her bat before lifting it again, which is when the ball hit the stumps. As Mel Jones, former Australian cricketer, explained on air. "Law of cricket 30.1.2. Batter shall not be considered to be out of her ground in running or diving towards her ground and beyond, and having grounded some part of her bat, the bat beyond the popping increase. There is subsequent loss of contact between the ground and any part of her person or bat, or between the that and the person. So, she wasn't running, she wasn't diving. And so, because of that fact there, there was no running or diving, that is the reason.. why she's been given out," Jones said. While 30.1.2 doesn't explicitly mean Muneeba was out, the extension of the fact that she had to be diving or running beyond the crease, meant she was given out. But another element of controversy to the dismissal was that the TV umpire seemed to initially be happy with calling it not out as the bat was grounded but the replays were asked for once more as she ran through the full footage till the bat went up in the air and the stumps lit up. As an aside, the LBW would have been out had India reviewed, but they didn’t perhaps because they had burnt a review in the first over, so Muneeba was actually out two different ways in that one ball. It was a wicket India would have gladly taken after being bowled out for 247 runs in 50 overs. Neither captain, Harmanpreet Kaur nor Fatima Sana, shook hands at the toss.
