The Marylebone Cricket Club, custodian of the laws of cricket, broke its silence on the dun-out dismissal of Pakistan batter Muneeba Ali during the India vs Pakistan Women's World Cup 2025 clash on Sunday, October 5.
Muneeba was run-out after she was found wandering outside her crease during Pakistan's run chase of 248 against the Women in Blue. The incident took place in the fourth over of Pakistan's innings when pacer Kranti Gaud was bowling.
The speedster had trapped the left-handed batter in front as the Indians went for an appeal. Immediately after, placed at the slips, Deepti Sharma ran Muneeba out. The batter was not going for a run but and had her bat grounded but raised it for a moment, during which Deepti had hit the stumps.
The dismissal caught the limelight with Pakistan captain Fatima Sana arguing with the fourth umpire and demanding it to be changed. But she was ruled out in accordance with the laws of the MCC.
The laws' custodian has now opened up on the dismissal, stating that the batter was given out correctly. The MCC detailed the rule first stating that according to the Law 30.1.2, "a batter shall not be considered to be out of his/her ground if, in running or diving towards his/her ground and beyond, and having grounded some part of his/her person or bat beyond the popping crease, there is subsequent loss of contact between the ground and any part of his/her person or bat, or between the bat and person."
The Board then went into the details of the law and on Muneeba's dismissal. “This Law means that if you are running or diving towards the end that the stumps are broken, and you ground your bat or person behind the line, you are not out if you then lose contact with the ground and the wicket is subsequently broken. Muneeba had grounded her bat beyond the popping crease after being hit on the pads, and her bat subsequently lifted. Isn't this exactly what the Law covers?”
“The answer to that is no – the Law specifically only covers a player who is running or diving - and Muneeba was not moving towards her ground. She had taken guard from beyond the popping crease and at no time did her feet move back into her ground.”
“This Law, which was introduced in 2010 and is sometimes referred to as the ‘bouncing bat Law', is to protect a batter who inadvertently loses contact with the ground as they move towards the stumps, either with their bat bouncing up or just with both their feet being airborne through the natural process of running.”
“It does not protect a batter who is turning for another run, overbalancing, or who – as in Muneeba's case – simply lifts their bat into the air. The third umpire was entirely correct to give this Out,” said the MCC.
It added that the dismissal was a run-out despite the batter not looking for a run. "It's a Run out – although she was not attempting a run, and it was not a No ball, the wicket was not broken by the wicket-keeper without the intervention of another fielder – it was instead a fielder who threw it. So the decision, correctly given by the umpires, is Out, Run out.”
