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Jasprit Bumrah's Huge Blunder; Marnus Labuschagne Survives Despite Obstructing The Field

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Marnus Labuschagne during the Perth Test [Source: @ESPNcricinfo/x.com]Marnus Labuschagne during the Perth Test [Source: @ESPNcricinfo/x.com]

India and Australia are facing off in an intense Test battle in the first Test of the BGT 2024-25. The match is being played at the Optus Stadium in Perth. In what has so far turned out in the game, the bowlers have ruled the first day of the match.

Jasprit Bumrah, the captain of the Indian team won the toss and opted to bat first. Even though the top Indian batters failed to make substantial contributions, Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy saved India's pride. The duo took the total to a fighting 150.

The Indian bowlers came up with a brilliant reply. Led by the skipper himself, Jasprit Bumrah, the visitors came up with a lethal spell of fast bowling and had the Aussies reeling at 19/3 in the seventh over of the innings.

Did Australia Cheat Again?

At this stage, Marnus Labuschagne tried to battle it out for his team. Even while getting hit on the body and getting beaten multiple times, Marnus tried to bail his team out of the situation. He survived a chance when Virat Kohi dropped his easy catch first slip. This was followed by a controversial moment in the 13th over of the innings.

On the third ball of the over, Labuschagne was hit on the pads by Mohammad Siraj. After this, the batter pushed away the ball with his bat despite being out of the crease and the ball still being in play. Siraj and the other Indian players looked agitated by this act of the batter, however, they did not appeal officially. As per the rules of MCC, the Australian batter could have been given out if there was an official appeal.

What Does MCC's Rule Say About Obstructing The Field Dismissal?

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Law of Obstructing the Field under section 37 deals with situations where a batter obstructs the ball during the play. The law comes into play when the batter obstructs the ball while it is active and prevents the fielding side from executing an act of play like a catch or run-out. 

Notably obstruction can occur in many ways. A batter can obstruct a ball with his body parts or bat and prevent a catch or the ball rolling back onto the stumps. Even verbal distraction of fielders by the batter while the ball is active falls under this section.

A particular scenario also involves the batter collecting the ball and returning it to the fielder without their consent. However, these things would have come into play if India appealed. It was a blunder on part of the Indian team that they did not appeal for this. The visitors were lucky that the batter did not stay long cost it too much.