An Indian bowler has caught the cricketing world's attention with his bizarre run-up technique during a domestic competition.
India under-23s player Shiva Singh was playing for Uttar Pradesh against Bengal in the CK Nayudu Trophy, the four-day domestic under-23 tournament for India's state teams when he whipped out a 360 degree spin during his delivery.
The umpire immediately called a dead ball for distracting the batter, but Singh told ESPN CricInfo it was a genuine delivery and one he had used before without being called a dead ball.
"I use different variations in one-dayers and T20s so I thought of doing the same because the Bengal batsmen were developing a partnership," Shiva said. "The umpires said dead ball, so I asked "why are you calling it a dead ball?"
"I delivered this 360-degree ball against Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well, where it was fine. Batsman always go for the reverse-sweep or the switch hit against bowlers. But when bowlers do something like this it's deemed a dead ball."
The argument for and against the technique comes with interpretation of the game's law, which states; "Either umpire shall call and signal Dead ball when … there is an instance of a deliberate attempt to distract under either of Laws 41.4 (Deliberate attempt to distract striker) or 41.5 (Deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of batsman). The ball shall not count as one of the over".
The Marylebone Cricket Club, who runs the international laws of the game, said there is nothing in the laws that dictate what the bowler's run-up should look like.
"The law only states if an offence is made to distract the batsman, rather than the batter actually getting distracted," it wrote in a blog.
Shiva was part of the Indian under-19s side which won the World Cup earlier this year.
SHARE ME