Lachlan Hammer | 12:05am BST 01 June 2025
Although cricket is a sport often regarded as being governed by an intricate rule book due to the tradition it is so steeped in, sometimes, things get a little strange, resulting in moments of pure drama. This is especially true when it comes to dismissals, as cricket has seen some truly bizarre ways for batters to be sent back to the pavilion, beyond the classic methods of being bowled, caught, or out LBW.. Some of these have left fans, commentators, players and even the umpires scratching their heads; however, the weirdest dismissals in cricket history prove that the game is never short on unexpected surprises.
Inzamam-ul-Haq 2006
Starting with Inzamam-ul-Haq, he was involved in one of the strangest dismissals cricket has ever seen, when he blocked a throw from Suresh Raina with his bat while out of his crease. Although he wasn’t actually attempting a run, he was ruled out for ‘obstructing the field’. This all stemmed from Raina spotting Inzamam’s position and throwing the ball towards the striker’s end. Inzamam happened to be directly in the path of the somewhat wayward throw, right in front of the stumps. The ball clipped his bat and was stopped, almost as if he were playing a shot. Due to the truly bizarre manner in which it occurred, this moment has become a part of folklore in the many matchups between Pakistan and India over the years and was so bizarre, not even cricket betting sites could have predicted what would occur.
Hemulal Yadav 1997
In the 1997 Ranji trophy that took place between Tripura and Orissa, Indian cricketer Hemulal Yadav was dismissed in one of the rarest ways possible in the sport of cricket. In first-class cricket, the rules state that batters have three minutes to take guard after a dismissal. However, Yadav failed to reach the crease in time and was automatically given out by the umpire. But this wasn’t due to laziness, as you might assume. Tripura were nine wickets down at the time, and when it came time for the next batter to take the field, it turned out he had already left the stadium – unbeknownst to the team.
Kevin Pietersen 2007
Becoming only the fourth ever batsman in the history of Test cricket to be dismissed by what is referred to as a ‘hit wicket’, Kevin Pietersen was ruled out after Dwane Bravo, an all rounder for the West Indies, delivered a bouncer in the 3rd test against England at Old Trafford. This bouncer ended up clipping Pitersen’s helmet, something which knocked it off his head completely when trying to avoid the ball. However, as the helmet fell, it unfortunately landed onto his stumps. Although neither Pietersen nor his bat made direct contact with the stumps, he was still given out, and the controversial dismissal remained a major talking point for the rest of the Test.
Kurt Wilkinson 2002
In the cricket rulebook players are not allowed to strike the ball twice unless they are defying their wicket. However, in a domestic West Indies match back in 2002, Jurt Wilkinson decided to block the ball before inexplicably striking it again, this time off to this side. By touching the ball twice in the same portion of play, Wilkinson was immediately given out for a double hit, another of the weirdest and most uncommon ways to be dismissed in cricket.
Andrew Symonds 2006
In an ODI against Sri Lanka back in 2006, Australian batter Andrew Symonds would proceed to strike the ball that came straight from Jehan Mubarak. However, as he hit the ball, this hurdled straight towards the non-striker’s end where runner Michael Clarke was currently positioned. Due to the flight of the ball, it ricocheted off Clarke’s shoe without touching the ground, popping up perfectly for Tillakaratne Dilshan to complete a simple catch. Although the ball was never originally heading towards him, his quick reactions and the unfortunate instance of the ball not touching the ground caused Symbonds to be declared out thanks to the catch. This was made all the more strange considering this was only one of the only two wickets which Mubarak took in his career.
AB de Villiers
In a Test match between Bangladesh and South Africa back in 2008, Proteas star AB de Villiers was caught out after skying a ball straight into the hands of batsman Mohammad Ashraful. Although this may seem fairly straightforward, de Villiers actually expected the ball to be declared a no ball, hence the manner in which he swatted away the delivery without any care whatsoever. This was because the ball had bounced twice before reaching his crease, however, the cricket handbook states the ball must bounce more than 2 times to be a no ball. Due to a simple misunderstanding of the rules, AB de Villiers essentially forfeited his place in front of the stumps, not expecting the catch to be legitimate.
Azhar Ali 2018
Pakistan’s Azhar Ali was at the centre of a rather embarrassing dismissal in a test against Australia back in 2018. After hitting the ball towards the boundaries, Ali stood in the middle of the pitch, thinking he had hit a four. However, what he had not noticed is that one of the Australian fielders managed to sweep up the as it came to a stop just before the boundary, proceeding to rifle the ball back towards the wickets before being run out as Ali celebrated. Unsuprisingly, the batting partnership looked at each other in confusion as the bails were knocked off, not understanding what had just happened.
