Top 10 hilarious dismissals in cricket history

As a cricketer, one of the primary coaching advices that you’ll get is to put a price on your wicket while you are in the middle. You’d be taught to persevere, sweat out, manipulate the gaps and do whatever you could to keep the bowlers at bay. Needless to say, you’d be inclined to adhere to those words as often as you can.Therefore, by extended logic, it may not be overly optimistic to hope that the ‘finished products’ who represent their country would not throw away their wickets in the big stage. But lo and behold, for I’ve compiled a list of ten dismissals in international cricket in recent years that are so ridiculous that they are actually hilarious.

#1 Tumbling on slippery ground

Pakistan were cruising at 451/5 trailing England by 64 runs when skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq decided to play the joker and attempt the unforeseen. As he left the crease for the pavilion, the TV cameras zoomed in on the disgusted face of Coach Bob Woolmer.

The events were pretty surreal - Inzamam attempts a lavish sweep off Monty Panesar and misses horribly as the ball ricochets off his pads after he completes a 180 degrees rotation on his right knee. And it doesn’t end there. Inzamam loses his balance entirely and tumbles on his castles, but not before managing a hilarious display of unsuccessful acrobatics.

#2 Perks of being short

Even the greatest batsman of the modern era, Sachin Tendulkar had had his moment of embarrassment in his otherwise flawless career during an India versus Australia Test match. It was a soft dismissal and a not-too-silly one, yet the involvement of one of the better judges of the cherry is what contributes to its hilarity.

Right-arm pacer Glenn McGrath sprinted in from over the wicket and pitched the ball short. Tendulkar, anticipating chin music, ducked low covering his wicket – a move that spelled his doom, for the delivery kept unexpectedly low and hit his shoulder. The Australians appealed, and the master was adjudged clear LBW.

#3 Ducking at yorkers

In the third ODI of 1990 Rothman’s Cup, New Zealand right-hander John Bracewell found himself at the receiving end of a cheeky dismissal when his leg-stump was destroyed by a slower yorker from Australian Simon O’Donnell after he decided to crouch low. The ball looped high from the bowler’s hands and then dipped low as it moved from the off towards leg before uprooting the stumps. As the bowler mocked him and the spectators joined in, Bracewell had no option but to walk out of the field embarrassed and humiliated.

#4 Trescothick\'s \'header\' dismisses Butt

Salman Butt had scored 74 off 183 balls in the Multan Test against England in late 2005 before he was dismissed by Shaun Udal in a ridiculous fashion. Udal, who was debuting for England at 36, however, mused later that he would have rather preferred his debut wicket to have come in a more orthodox manner.

Butt and Younis Khan had stabilized the ship after Shoaib Malik had fallen for 39, and Pakistan were looking good at 161/1 on the first day at Multan. Butt slashed at a spinning delivery from Udal, which rose towards the first slip where Marcus Trescothick was late at cupping his fingers. Instead, the ball struck Trescothick on his forehead and deflected fine as England wicket-keeper Geraint Jones pouched a low diving catch.

#5 Symonds\' cheeky luck

Among all the unusual manners of getting out, this one stands out for its sheer outlandishness and bizarre fashion. The incident happened to be so awkwardly comical, albeit unsupportive for the Aussies, that even Andrew Symonds allowed himself a smile as he walked towards the pavilion.

Tillakaratne Dilshan had delivered a pretty benign slower ball that Symonds drove straight on the up. Michael Clarke, the non-striker, however couldn’t help coming in line of the stroke as the ball struck his pads and rebounded towards the short mid-wicket at a surprising height. The catcher there had no trouble scooping up the rising cherry before it hit the ground.

#6 Mix-up, Calypso style

Runaku Morton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had a not-too-great time in the middle as they suddenly found themselves running at the same end with the bails dislodged at the other. This led to some confusion in the middle regarding who was out before TV replays eased the job for the third umpire.

The mix-up began when Morton set-off calling for a single although Chanderpaul refused doggedly and stood his ground. As a consequence, both were at the non-striker’s end when the bails were taken off at the other end. However, replays suggested Morton had landed his bat earlier than his teammate and had, therefore, completed the run. Chanderpaul, thus, had to leave the ground run-out.

#7 Laxman foxed by Baugh\'s presence of mind

VVS Laxman’s tenacity, perseverance and obsession for maneuvering the gaps with his magical wrists may have earned him well-served applauds, but there’s no doubting his momentous lapse of concentration during this one-off instance where he paid the price for not being as conscientous as he was known to be.

In the third Test against West Indies at Dominica in 2011, Laxman left the Chanderpaul delivery that pitched at least one feet outside the off-stump and spun farther off. What he did next was plain sloppy – assuming that the ball had gone dead, he casually lifted his back foot a touch above the crease in order to move back. Glovesman Carlton Baugh showcased immense presence of mind as he dislodged the bails while Laxman’s foot was off the ground resulting in Chanderpaul’s first top-order Test scalp since 1999.

#8 Shakib\'s wriggly fingers

11 March 2011 is a date Shahid Afridi won’t forget too soon. Not because he was caught and bowled by Shakib-al-Hasan at a crunch situation, but because of the manner in which he got dismissed. Pakistani supporters may cry foul and blame Misbah-ul-Haq’s laziness at the non-striker’s end, but there’s no taking away credit from the Bangladesh skipper who held on to the catch despite more than a few initial jitters.

Shakib made a huge show of a loose shot that looped straight back to him as he fumbled twice with Afridi looking on. The ball, then, rebounded off Mihbah’s body and Shakib pocketed it between his fingers at the third attempt.

#9 Blind man de Villiers

One wouldn’t associate South African batsman AB de Villiers with misjudgement of shots, neither would anyone question his running between the wickets; however, there’s a first time to everything and, obviously, no man is perfect. It took him 163 matches to make a fool of himself in front of the crowd, but when he did, he made sure it was king-size, that too against the minnows Zimbabwe.

Little did Prosper Utseya know that he was in for luck when he delivered a seemingly harmless delivery that veered down the leg with South Africa settled at 60/2 at the beginning of the 13th over. De Villiers, in his attempt to nudge it towards fine leg, completely missed the ball that hit the Zimbabwean wicket-keeper Richmond Mutumbami’s pads and rolled beside the stumps. The right-hander set off, thinking the ball had gone down fine only to realise moments later that Mutumbami had clipped the bails while he was out of his crease.

#10 Tying your helmet is important

Dwayne Bravo could not believe his luck when he got Kevin Pietersen castled by his helmet off a bouncer in the second innings of a Test match with England dominating at 221/2. As the England right-hander gazed at the bails lying on the ground, the crowd went into fits of laughter.

As an arrogant shot-maker known for his hooks and pulls, Pietersen had little idea that his helmet would be blown off by Bravo and then would land on his stumps. But it did happen on the day the West Indian taught the right-hander a lesson or two about the importance of fastening the buckles of his helmet.