ICC Champions Trophy 2017: The reason why Bangladesh were awarded 5 penalty runs

There are a lot of ways to get runs in cricket. Aside from the runs off the bat and ones that are included during a wide or a no ball, there are also penalty runs that are awarded to either the batting or the bowling side depending on the nature of the infringement.

In the 40^th over of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 semi-final between India and Bangladesh, MS Dhoni’s attempt to hit the stumps with one of his trademark flicks failed and he ended up costing India five penalty runs as he breached Law 41.3 in the laws of the game.

The third ball of the 40^th over of the innings was an eventful one, for more reasons than one. Ravichandran Ashwin delivered a full ball that was angling on the pads and it was swept towards long leg by Mahmudullah. Yuvraj Singh threw the ball to MS Dhoni and the Indian wicketkeeper tried to flick it onto the stumps.

Unfortunately for him and India, the ball didn’t hit the stumps and instead hit Dhoni’s glove that was on the ground and hence five penalty runs were awarded to Bangladesh. Although the law particularly talks about protective helmets, gloves worn by the keeper also count as protective equipment and as the ball, which was still active hit the gloves, the penalty was awarded against India.

This is what transpired as Dhoni attempted another cheeky run-out

Here is Law 41.3 (The Fielder) Protective helmets belonging to the fielding side:

41. 3. Protective helmets belonging to the fielding side

Protective helmets, when not in use by fielders, should, if above the surface, be placed only on the ground behind the wicket-keeper and in line with both sets of stumps.

If a protective helmet belonging to the fielding side is on the ground within the field of play, and the ball while in play strikes it, the ball shall become dead and, except in the circumstances of Law 34 (Hit the ball twice), 5 penalty runs shall then be awarded to the batting side, in addition to the penalty for a No ball or a Wide, if applicable.

Additionally runs completed by the batsmen before the ball strikes the protective helmet shall be scored, together with the run in progress if the batsmen had already crossed at the instant of the ball striking the protective helmet.

In accordance with the rules, the ball was not counted and had to be bowled again. Not only that but the run that was scored by the batsman (Mahmudullah) was counted along with the five penalty runs that was awarded to Bangladesh.

The incident took place soon after a mini-collapse from Bangladesh that saw them completely lost the plot after the fall of Tamim Iqbal's wicket. From 154/2 before the fall of the opener’s wicket, they collapsed to 179/5 and lost both set batsmen (Tamim and Mushfiqur).