Faf Du Plessis and Mitchell Johnson Argue over a Run-out in U-19

In one of the most bizarre turn of events, a South African batsman was given out obstructing the field in the ICC under-19 World Cup, as he played a shot and the ball stopped just before hitting the stumps. Jiveshen Pillay, the unlucky batsman, picked up the ball and passed it on to the keeper.

He was given out according to Law 37.4 which states:

“Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and without the consent of a fielder, he uses his bat or any part of his person, including a hand not holding the bat, to return the ball to any fielder.” 

This is a absolute joke…not in the spirit of the game .I have done this almost a 100 times. https://t.co/nX0KUJ9PI4

— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) January 17, 2018

This took the cricketing world by surprise as for a long time now we have seen batsman throwing the ball back to the fielding team when the ball is dead. South African Captain Faf Du Plessis showed consent to the young African batsman and tweeted:

“This is a absolute joke…not in the spirit of the game .I have done this almost a 100 times.” 

However, this decision brought some mixed emotions from the players as Du Plessis’s counterpart from Australia; Mitchell Johnson feels that the decision was completely right as the decision given was under the rules and regulations of the game.

https://twitter.com/MitchJohnson398/status/953518763025969152

Johnson Tweeted:

“Maybe you should stop doing it. Whether we like or not, it’s law in the game. As for spirit of the game, the players didn’t do anything wrong right? #healthydebate”

Follow more news about 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup here.