Mushfiqur Rahim became the first Bangladesh batter to be dismissed obstructing the field during day one of the second Bangladesh vs New Zealand Test match in Mirpur on December 6.

Rahim defended a Kyle Jamieson delivery under his eyes in the 41st over of Bangladesh’s first innings. However, as he realised the ball could have headed onto his stumps after bouncing near the crease, he shoved it away with his left glove.

The New Zealand fielders appealed immediately for an obstructing the field dismissal. The on-field umpires came together before deciding to send it upstairs to the TV umpire for a review.

The TV umpire adjudged that Rahim had willfully handled the ball and gave him out obstructing the field. With this decision, Mushfiqur became the first Bangladeshi batter to be out obstructing the field in international cricket across formats. In Test cricket, only Len Hutton had been out in this manner before.

Mushfiqur’s was the fifth wicket to fall in the Bangladesh innings as he fell for 35, leaving the hosts stuttering at 104-5.

Mushfiqur Rahim becomes the first Bangladesh batter to be dismissed for handling the ball. pic.twitter.com/KZ50ngnufy

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 6, 2023

Mushfiqur had similarly attempted to push away a ball from heading onto his stumps earlier in this innings as well, but had not made contact with the ball on that occasion.

Had the incident occurred before 2017, when the mode of dismissal was incorporated into Law 37 (obstructing the field), Mushfiqur would have been ruled out handled the ball.

In the 29th over of the innings, bowled by Tim Southee, Mushfiqur had defended a delivery which bounced just over the stumps. He tried to knock it away with his glove but the ball had gone beyond his reach by that time. Had he made contact with the ball, he could have been dismissed obstructing the field before he eventually did.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first, but were pushed back by New Zealand’s bowlers right from the start. None of their top four batters crossed 15 as they were reduced to 80-4 by lunch time.

Mushfiqur gave the Bangladesh innings a semblance of control, before casually throwing his wicket away. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 172, with the spinners – Glenn Phillips (3-31), Mitchell Santner (3-65), and Ajaz Patel (2-54) – sharing eight wickets.

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