What is Handled the ball?
Handled the ball is Law 33 in the laws of cricket established by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). A batsman can be given out for handling the ball if, while playing a delivery, the batsman intentionally touches the ball with one or both of their hands not holding the bat. A decision of not out must be reached if the batsman handles the ball to avoid incurring an injury. A bowler does not receive credit for the wicket when a batsman is dismissed in this fashion.
First Instance
The first incident of a batsman being given out handled the ball in international cricket was way back in 1957; The Test match played between South Africa and England in Cape Town.The South African Russell Endean padded away a delivery from Jim Laker in the second innings. The ball globed off his pads into the air, and was moving towards his stumps until Russell instinctively knocked it away with his free hand.
The first instance of batsmen getting in One Day Internationals was in 1986, in match played between Australia and India when the Indian batsman Mohinder Amarnath thumped away a ramping delivery from Australia’s Greg Matthews which was aiming for the stumps. Graham Gooch became the only player to be dismissed for handling the ball after notching up a century in 1993. He was Playing cautiously and trying to draw the Test match against Australia, Gooch blocked a short ball from Merv Hughes. The ball brushed off his bat and fell towards his stumps, and Gooch was promted to knock the ball away. Australia won that match by 179 runs.
Chibhabha was the first Zimbabwe batsman to be given out for handling the ball. The last time an instance of handling the ball came way back in 2001 in an international Test match; when Michael Vaughan was given out in 2001 in a match against India, after Viru appealed from short leg.
Chibhabha is the tenth international batsman to plunge to this dismissal. This was only the third instance of a batsman being given out handling the ball.
Junctures in International Cricket when batsmen given out handling the ball
| No. | Batsman | Bowler | Runs | Format | Team | Opposition | Match date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell Endean | Jim Laker | 3 | Test | South Africa | England | 1st Jan 1957 | Newlands, Cape Town |
| 2 | Andrew Hilditch | Sarfraz Nawaz | 29 | Test | Australia | Pakistan | 24 Mar 1979 | WACA, Perth |
| 3 | Mohsin Khan | Geoff Lawson | 58 | Test | Pakistan | Australia | 22 Sep 1982 | National Stadium, Karachi |
| 4 | Desmond Haynes | Kapil Dev | 55 | Test | West Indies | India | 24 Nov 1983 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay |
| 5 | Mohinder Amarnath | Greg Matthews | 15 | ODI | India | Australia | 9 Feb 1986 | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne |
| 6 | Graham Gooch | Merv Hughes | 133 | Test | England | Australia | 3 Jun 1983 | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 7 | Daryll Cullinan | Keith Arthurton | 46 | ODI | South Africa | West Indies | 27 Jan 1999 | Kingsmead, Durban |
| 8 | Steve Waugh | Harbhajan Singh | 47 | Test | Australia | India | 18 Mar 2001 | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| 9 | Michael Vaughan | Sarandeep Singh | 64 | Test | England | India | 19 Dec 2001 | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore |
| 10 | Chamu Chibhabha | Amir Hamza | 18 | ODI | Zimbabwe | Afghanistan | 20 Oct 2015 | Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo |
