Michael Vaughan trolls Mushfiqur Rahim for his bizarre 'obstructing the field' dismissal vs New Zealand in 2nd Test

For former England captain Michael Vaughan, Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim's bizarre dismissal on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand in Mirpur brought back memories of the 2001 series against India. Vaughan was given out for ‘obstructing the field’ just like Mushfiqur. On both occasions, the batters were guilty of handling the ball. Notably, ‘handling the ball’ was a separate mode of dismissal previously but later, it was integrated into the ‘obstructing of field’ umbrella.

The former England captain, who was shell-shocked after being given out in that Test match against India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 2001, was in a different mood on Wednesday. He decided to take a cheeky dig at Mushfiqur and welcome him to "the exclusive club".

"Welcome to the very exclusive Handled ball club Mushfiqur Rahim.. only proper players are members," Vaughan wrote on his X handle.

The 36-year-old Rahim defended a rising delivery from New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson in the fourth ball of the 41st over and extended his right hand to keep the ball away after it bounced up wide outside off stump.

The Black Caps were quick to appeal and the on-field umpires referred the matter to the TV umpire Ahsan Raza who gave Rahim out.

According to Law 37.1.2, "The striker is out obstructing the field if, except in the circumstances of 37.2, in the act of receiving a ball delivered by the bowler, he/she wilfully strikes the ball with a hand not holding the bat. This will apply whether it is the first strike or a second or a subsequent strike. The act of receiving the ball shall extend both to playing at the ball and to striking the ball more than once in defence of his/her wicket."Earlier such dismissals were classified as "handled the ball" but a change in the laws in 2017 brought them under "obstructing the field" category.

This was the 11th time a batter was given out for 'obstructing the field' in Test cricket. Incidentally, the last one was Vaughan. The former right-hander was batting on 64 and looking set for a big one when he tried to sweep off-spinner Sarandeep Singh. The ball hit his pads, his arms and then dropped in front of him. It was unclear whether the ball would have rolled back onto the stumps, but in a sort of reflex action, Vaughan picked up the ball and pushed it back towards the short leg fielder. The bowler and the close-in fielders put forward a mild appeal and the umpire raised his finger, much to the shock of Vaughan.

Rahim was Bangladesh's top-scorer with his 35 off 83 balls as the hosts were bundled out for 172 inside 67 overs. But they fought back to reduce New Zealand to 55 for 5 at stumps on Day 1.

Bangladesh won the first Test in Sylhet by 150 runs.