WATCH: When Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble left team in splits with their running between the wickets

The moment happened during India's Bangladesh tour in 2004.

By CricTracker Staff

Updated - 13 Oct 2024, 15:28 IST

View : 60
3 Min Read

Over the course of cricket history, there have been several hilarious moments that have gripped the fans. There have been many moments of miscommunication between two batters which have led to both successful and missed run-out chances too. Even in a professional sport, such instances show that mistakes happen even at the highest level.

One such instance unfolded in the third and final T20I of the recently-concluded India-Bangladesh T20I series, when Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag were spared of embarrassment as their miscommunication in running was matched by Bangladesh's harakiri in the field.

The incident occurred in the 18th over of Indian innings at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad when Pandya was up against Mustafizur Rahman. Pandya inside-edged an accurate yorker from the left-arm pacer on his pads, taking a blow on his toe. As he regained his partially lost balance, he found Parag right in front of him.

Confused, Pandya started running towards the non-striker's end while so did Parag. In the meantime, wicketkeeper Litton Das underarmed the ball towards the non-striker's end only for it to go over the bowler's head. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto was the fielder backing up, however, he also fumbled and failed to gather the ball cleanly as Parag made it back into the crease.

The instance brought back memories of a similar happening from India’s tour to Bangladesh in December 2004, when Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble were involved in a funny moment in the first Test of the series in Dhaka. 

Tendulkar hit a delivery in the 100th over to deep square leg and immediately called for two. Kumble took the first run with ease but hesitated in taking the second. Seeing Kumble in two minds, Tendulkar stopped midway but Kumble started running again, alongside Tendulkar. Meanwhile, Bangladesh wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud failed to collect the ball, which gave enough time to Tendulkar to reach the crease in time. 

However, Mashud noticed that Kumble stopped midway on the pitch and could have been dismissed. But as he threw the ball towards the bowler’s end, it went a little wide, allowing Kumble to make his ground as well. On-field umpire Jeremy Lloyds could not hide his amusement as he referred the decision to third umpire with a smile on his face.

After the hilarious moment, both Kumble and Tendulkar had a chat with each other, seemingly discussing the moment. After all the drama, both of them breathed a sigh of relief as Kumble was adjudged not out, and the ball was signalled two leg byes. 

In the same Test match, Kumble went on to break the record of Kapil Dev of 434 Test wickets, becoming team India’s leading Test wicket-taker at the time. On the other hand, Tendulkar went onto equal Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test centuries with a staggering unbeaten 248.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store