This is incredible.
One of the most bizarre runouts in cricket history happened in Australia on Thursday when Pakistan’s Azhar Ali was caught talking to teammate Asad Shafiq in the middle of the pitch when he suddenly realized he was out.
What the heck am I watching here?
In cricket players score by running between the two ends of the pitch and switching sides. The only time they stay in place and still score is when the ball is hit to the boundary, either on the ground or through the air.
Both Ali and Shafiq thought the ball had reached the boundary, meaning four runs — however it stopped short, meaning the ball was still live. So, while the players were standing in the middle of the field discussing strategy for the remainder of their innings, the ball was live — allowing Australia to throw the ball in, and get Ali out.
How rare is this?
Run outs are fairly common in cricket, but normally it happens due to players pushing the limits trying to eek out an extra run or being caught out of position. It’s very rare to see a player get out because they lost all awareness of what was happening, particularly for as long as Ali an Shafiq stood there, blissfully unaware of what was happening.
Did it impact the game?
Not really. Pakistan is killing Australia, up 491 runs in two days. Pakistan will probably win, but we’ll have this moment forever.