It was shocking since the umpire had not declared him out.
During the ongoing first ODI between Sri Lanka and India, Lankan batter Janith Liyanage threw away his wicket in a rather bizarre fashion. He started walking off despite initially being adjudged not out by the umpire.
The incident happened on the second ball of the 35th over when Axar Patel was bowling.
Liyanage decided to dance down the track and loft the left-arm spinner. The ball missed Liyanage’s bat and took a deflection off wicketkeeper KL Rahul and went to India skipper Rohit Sharma at first slip.
Believing that Liyanage had nicked the ball, the Indian fielders all appealed together. However, their appeals were shot down by the on-field umpire Joel Wilson, who had no reaction to the Indians.
Rohit Sharma still remained persistent pointing his finger at the umpire. At this moment, Liyanage chose to walk off the field on his own, effectively declaring himself out. Consequently, Wilson had no choice but to signal his dismissal.
— hiri_azam (@HiriAzam) August 2, 2024
While initially the batter was praised for his outstanding sportsmanship, it was soon revealed through replays that Liyanage hadn’t actually made contact with the ball. The deceptive spin that Axar managed to produce created the illusion that Liyanage had hit the ball when in reality, the batter only struck the ground with his bat.
What made the situation even more unexpected was that, despite being in the midst of a strong 41-run partnership with young Dunith Wellalage, Liyanage inexplicably began to walk off as if he were out.
ALSO READ: Why Team India are wearing black arm bands in first ODI vs Sri Lanka?
Liyanage’s brain-fade moment provided India with a significant advantage at a critical moment, just when the sixth-wicket partnership seemed well poised to give them serious trouble.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube
