Pakistan got into a position of great strength in the Abu Dhabi Test against Australia on Thursday’s third day, but it was Azhar Ali’s freak run out that got most of the attention.
It was extraordinary all right.
The 53rd over of the Pakistan second innings, with the scoreboard reading 160-3, a lead of 297.
WATCH: Is this the most bizarre run out in Test history?#PAKvAUS https://t.co/Pa5b6lOCJH
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 18, 2018
Peter Siddle kept it outside the off-stump and Ali’s attempted drive went through the cordon behind the stumps off the edge. It rolled away towards the third-man boundary before stopping inches short.
Should the batsman have been run out when not attempting a run? “No, I don’t think it was bad sportsmanship (by the Australians). I take full responsibility for it. I was a little bit ignorant. No one came in my way. No one distracted me. It is my own fault,” he said.
He is likely to be reminded of it for a while at home, though. “I will be asked this question for a long time,” he said. “Especially when I go back home my sons will ask it in a funnier way. Whenever I say something to them, they are going to come back to me about this run out.”
