Fighting throat infection and fever, Cheteshwar Pujara hit fifty as Saurashtra dominated Bengal on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy Final at Rajkot. But the star batsman survived a close LBW call with a bizarre rule coming to his rescue. (More Cricket News)
In the 98th over of the Saurashtra innings, Shahbaz Ahmed trapped Pujara in front but umpire Ananthapadmanabhan ruled in favour of the batsman, forcing Bengal to take a review.
The replay showed the ball hitting the stumps but Pujara remained not out thanks to the bizarre 'three-metre rule'. According to the rule book, if the impact is beyond the 'marked' nine-feet mark line, LBW can't be given. The rule is there because DRS ball-tracking technology is not fully reliable when the point of impact leaves the ball with three metres or more still to travel.
Advertisement
Pujara finally got out on 66 off 237 balls on Day 2 with Saurashtra on 358/7 (150.3). Mukesh Kumar trapped him in front and Bengal this time got their review work.
On Monday, an unwell Pujara could not bat more than 24 balls due to fever but returned to action today.
Pujara, who had returned from New Zealand only a couple of days ago, came in to bat at six instead of his usual number four spot (for India it is number three) due to a throat infection.
Eventually, he decided to walk off the field at the end of the 77th over.
