5 Truly Absurd Facts about Cricket

Cricket moved to the forefront of global sports in the summer of 2020, with the West Indies travelling to England in what was a hugely entertaining series. The storied sport managed to play out several more enticing matches and enchanting stories for its massive following across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Here, however, we’re going through the history books – the more recent history books, in some cases – to look into the truly absurd facts about the great game.

All surfaces bar your hands are the ground

The slow-motion replays of last-gasp catches can provide some of the tensest moments in cricket. You can make out the fingers wrapping around the ball, but does any part of it clip the ground before being secured? Getting your hands behind the ball is a fundamental skill in cricket, made all the more integral by the Cap Rule.

According to this somewhat absurd rule, if the ball touches a player’s clothes or cap and is then caught by them, it will be deemed not out as all surfaces that aren’t the hands are considered to be the ground. This also applies if the ball pops off of another player – could be their cap or the sleeve of their shirt – and another player makes the catch.

The biggest IPL yet wasn’t held in India

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League showcased some tremendous cricket, with fast bowler Jofra Archer claiming Player of the Series and the Mumbai Indians retaining their crown. From 19 September to 10 November 2020, all of the IPL’s matches were played in the UAE, helping the tournament to land what Punekar News reported as record viewership. TV viewership went up by 25 per cent, and the BCCI secured ₹4000 crore for necessarily staging the colossal show in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.

The surge of smartphones and the mobile internet has made cricket viewing and accompanying activities more accessible than even especially because matches are shown in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil. Also helping the level of engagement is the range of third-party options presented by the internet, primarily, major betting sites which provide a range of options for anyone looking to gamble on the sports and review sites such as Asia Bet ensure punters are aware of the best options for them. By analysing the cricket odds, licence, free betting options, and mobile betting, the site has been able to guide new cricket bettors to the best sites, heightening the intrigue.

Kohli has done the impossible with the ball, too

With good reason, Virat Kohli is ranked as one of, if not the best batsmen in the world right now. For the past few years, India’s captain of all formats has dominated batsmen rankings with his near-immaculate scoring. While he continues to mount more seasons of classy performances to add to his argument of being one of the best batsmen of all-time, he’s also earned notoriety in the attack.

The moment that will always be credited as another impossible feat achieved by Kohli, as well as a guaranteed future quiz question, came with his first T20I bowl. Up against England’s Kevin Pietersen in 2011, Kohli bowled a wide, but as the batsman had already flown out of the crease, MS Dhoni was able to grab the ball and stump him out. Thus, Kohli took his first wicket with the 0th ball of his T20I career.

The short-form ‘Universe Boss’ did it in long-form, too

He’s the West Indies’ most-capped ODI player, their highest ODI run-scorer, scored the first-ever T20I century, was the first to score a double-hundred in a World Cup match, and the fastest scorer of a century in the IPL. So, some forget the power that Chris Gayle has brought to test cricket, too. His bruising style isn’t exactly what test cricket viewers lean towards, but the ‘Universal Boss’ certainly made his mark.

Not only is he one of just four players to hit a test triple hundred, which trios nicely with his double hundreds in ODI and hundreds in T20I cricket, but Gayle is also the only player to hit a six from the first ball of a test match. The mighty Jamaican starred down Bangladesh’s debutant off-spinner Sohag Gazi at the top of the order. As the full ball bounced, Gayle’s thunderous swing popped it over long-on for a six.

Only one player managed to best Don Bradman this way

Don Bradman was such a dominant force in his day that he still stands well above the rest in the record books, with several of his tallies being put aside as unbeatable in the modern game. Throughout his storied career, the great Aussie was only dismissed once via hit-wicket, with the man credited for achieving the one-time feat being Lala Amarnath. The first test captain of independent India was better-known for his batting, but his wily moves in attack helped stop the 185-run onslaught of Bradman.

From the biggest IPL yet not even being in India to the mystical work of Virat Kholi, you’ve now got a handful more absurd cricket facts under your cap.