Manipur’s lower‒order batter Lamabam Singh found himself on the wrong side of one of cricket’s least-seen laws on Tuesday, judged out for “hitting the ball twice” in the Ranji Trophy Plate clash with Meghalaya in Surat. It is the first known instance of the dismissal in the competition since 2005-06.
The incident came late in the morning session. Singh blocked a good-length ball from seamer Aryan Bora. The ball dribbled back towards the stumps, and, instinctively, he tapped it away with his bat. Meghalaya appealed, umpire Dharmesh Bhardwaj upheld, and Singh walked without protest.
“He could’ve padded it away, but he chose to stop it with his bat and was immediately given out ‘hit the ball twice’ by umpire Dharmesh Bhardwaj,” a venue official said. “The batter walked off the moment Meghalaya appealed.”
Law 34.1 of the MCC code allows a batter to strike the ball a second time only to protect the wicket; doing so for any other reason, before a fielder touches it, brings dismissal. In Singh’s case, onlookers reckon the ball was heading towards the stumps, so technically his second strike was legal. Nobody, however, challenged the decision, and play moved on.
Rare doesn’t mean unheard-of. Before Tuesday, the Ranji’s last such dismissal involved Jammu & Kashmir skipper Dhruv Mahajan against Jharkhand nineteen seasons ago. Earlier still, Andhra’s K Bavanna (1963-64), J&K’s Shahid Parvez (1986-87) and Tamil Nadu’s Anand George (1998-99) received similar verdicts.
Singh’s 20-ball duck contributed to a late-order slide that handed Meghalaya an 88-run first-innings lead. The maths is simple from here: Manipur need only a draw to cement a top-two finish and a place in the Plate final, yet momentum now sits firmly with Meghalaya.
Coach Yashpal Singh admitted the mood in the dressing-room dipped. “It’s a weird way to get out, but the lads know the law and there’s no point sulking,” he said. “We have to bat time in the second innings.”
Meghalaya captain Chirag Gandhi preferred to keep things low-key. “You hardly see that mode of dismissal,” he remarked, “but credit to our bowlers for creating pressure. The match isn’t done.”
Whether or not the umpire applied the letter of the law perfectly will spark quiet debate among Laws enthusiasts, though it is unlikely to change the result sheet. For Manipur, the immediate task is simpler: regroup, bat responsibly, and avoid another unwanted entry in cricket’s long list of curiosities.
