Asia Cup Super Over Controversy: Why Dasun Shanaka’s Run Out Was Reversed Despite Being Short of Crease

Dubai: A high-stakes moment during the Super Over of the Asia Cup Super Fours contest between India and Sri Lanka in Dubai sparked a controversy surrounding the application of the ‘Dead Ball’ rule, leading to Sri Lankan batter Dasun Shanaka being given ‘Not Out’ despite being clearly run out.

The incident occurred on the fourth ball of the Super Over. The Sri Lankan batter attempted to run a bye, but the non-striker was not interested. Sanju Samson’s underarm throw from behind the wicket caught Shanaka clearly short of his crease.

However, the sequence of events immediately preceding the run out attempt complicated the decision. Arshdeep Singh appealed for a catch behind, and the standing umpire raised his finger, adjudging Shanaka to have nicked the ball to Samson.

Shanaka requested a Player Review. Following the request, the third umpire checked the decision and ruled that the ball had made no contact with the bat, and the original decision of Out was changed to Not out.

This review process triggered a critical cricket rule regarding the status of the ball. According to the rules, the ball is considered dead as soon as the on-field umpire gives a batter out in the middle. Since the original decision of ‘Out’ was made (for caught behind), the ball immediately became dead.

Rule 20.1.1.3 explicitly states that a ball is considered dead when the batter is dismissed, specifying that it will be deemed dead “from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal”. Furthermore, Rule 3.7.1 addresses reviews: “If following a Player Review request, an original decision of Out is changed to Not out, then the ball is still deemed to have become dead when the original decision was made (as per clause 20.1.1.3)”.

Therefore, even though Samson’s throw had Shanaka well short of his crease, the subsequent run out action was considered void because the ball was already deemed dead when the caught behind decision was initially made.

Despite the reversal of the run out, Shanaka fell off the very next ball, which restricted Sri Lanka to 2 for 2 in the Super Over.