An extremely rare mode of dismissal returned to the Ranji Trophy this week, with Manipur’s Lamabam Ajay Singh ruled out for “hitting the ball twice” during the match against Meghalaya. The incident occurred when the batter defended a delivery from Aryan Bora and watched the ball roll back towards the stumps. In an attempt to keep it away, he used his bat to intercept it, which immediately drew an appeal.A venue official said that the dismissal was given because of the manner in which Lamabam chose to act. “He could’ve padded it away, but he chose to stop it with his bat and was immediately given out ‘hit the ball twice’ by umpire Dharmesh Bhardwaj,” the official told ESPN Cricinfo The batter did not contest the decision. “The batter walked off the moment Meghalaya appealed,” the official added.The dismissal falls under Law 34 of the MCC code, which states that a striker can be given out if they wilfully strike the ball a second time while it is still in play, except when the act is solely to protect the wicket. Clause 34.1.1 specifies that a second strike is only permitted to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps; anything deemed deliberate beyond that is considered an offence.
R Ashwin on X
This method of dismissal has been extremely rare in domestic cricket. The previous recorded instance in the Ranji Trophy came in the 2005/06 season, involving Jammu & Kashmir captain Dhruv Mahajan.Ravichandran Ashwin reacted sharply to the same, sharing his own light-hearted experience on X. “Today I got out in gully cricket for the rarest crime ever – hitting the ball twice. First shot: defended. Second shot: panic swipe to save my stumps. Third thing: the entire lane shouting ‘OUTTT!’ louder than a World Cup final,” he wrote.
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He also commented on Lamabam’s dismissal, pointing to the difference between informal and official rules. “Lamabam Singh was given out for hitting the ball twice in a Ranji Trophy game. It’s out only in gully cricket and not according to the actual laws of the game,” Ashwin said, referring to the allowance for a batter to protect their stumps under MCC guidelines.While the decision has sparked debate among followers, the final call rested with the on-field officials, who judged the second strike to be deliberate rather than protective.
