India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was adjudged out for handling the ball on the opening day of Derbyshire's County Championship four-day match against Leicestershire at Derby on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old right-hander, who ended his run-drought with an unbeaten 90 as Derbyshire beat Surrey by eight wickets in the Division Two County Championship match at the KIA Oval on Wednesday, was dismissed in the 20th over for six by left-arm seamer Atif Sheikh, as the hosts were reduced to 62-3.
He faced 21 balls during his 28-minute stay at the wicket and scored a four.
India's middle order batsman, who was voted the International Cricket Council's 'Emerging Player of the Year' in 2013, is the first batsman to be given out 'handled the ball' in England since 1996, when Derbyshire's Karl Krikken was dismissed against India at the same venue.
Before the 90 in the previous match, Pujara had scores of 7, 0 and 16 in three innings.
‘Handled the ball’ is one of ten methods of dismissing a batsman in cricket.
If a batsman feels the ball will roll back on to the stumps after playing a shot, he can clear it away with the bat, feet or pads. However, if he uses his hands he is given out 'handled the ball'.
This type of dismissal is rare, but nine batsmen have been victims of it in international cricket previously.
Mohinder Amarnath is the only Indian among them. He was adjudged 'handled the ball' during an ODI against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1986.
The others are South Africa’s Russell Endean and Daryll Cullinan, Australia’s Andrew Hilditch and Steve Waugh, Pakistan’s Mohsin Khan, West Indies’ Desmond Haynes, England’s Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan.
Image: Cheteshwar Pujara
