Yusuf earns dubious distinction

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Yusuf Pathan on Wednesday became the first batsman in Twenty20 history, and sixth overall, to be ruled out for obstructing the field.

Test cricket has seen only one batsman, Briton Len Hutton, getting out in that fashion while four players so far have been ruled out in the ODIs, the latest being Pakistan’s Mohammed Hafeez against South Africa early this year.

Pakistan’s Rameez Raja (1987) and Inzamam ul haq (2006) and India’s Mohinder Amarnath (1989) are the other three batsmen who were out in similar fashion in ODIs.
Pathan earned the dubious distinction during the game against Pune Warriors.

The match was in tight situation when the incident happened. After managing to negotiate a yorker from Wayne Parnell, Pathan attempted a single. As he ran, the bowler too tried to get close to the ball but Pathan pushed the ball with his foot, causing obstruction in the field.

The matter was referred to third umpire and he was declared out. His dismissal in the 18th over was turning point of the game as KKR did not have the batsmen to score required 23 runs from 13 balls after that. Pune restricted Kolkata to 163 for seven to complete their third win from 15 matches.