Bizarre! Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Sees Rare ‘Hit Twice’ Dismissal Despite Lamabam Ajay Singh Following Rules; Ashwin Says It’s ‘Out Only in Gully Cricket’
Manipur's Lamabam Ajay Singh got out in one of the most astonishing fashions. The player was given out for hitting a single delivery twice during the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 match. What's more shocking is that his attempts didn't actually break any rules.
The great game of cricket has often witnessed bizarre moments. One of such events, which happened during the Ranji Trophy 2025 clash between Meghalaya and Manipur will definitely go down in the books. Manipur's Lamabam Ajay Singh got out in one of the most astonishing fashions. The player was given out for hitting a single delivery twice. What's more shocking is that his attempts didn't actually break any rules, but still, he was sent out. 'Adult Commentary' Brett Lee's Bizarre 'Hat-Trick With Two Balls' Comment for Mike Whitney on Live TV Goes Viral, Fans React (Watch Video).
During the Ranji Trophy 2025–26 Plate League match against Meghalaya at Pithwala Stadium in Bhimpore, Surat, Lamabam Ajay Singh faced a delivery from Aryan Bora that began rolling back toward the stumps. Just as it neared the wickets, he used his bat to stop it. Since he had already played a defensive shot moments earlier, this became his second intentional contact with the ball using the bat. This attempt is well within the laws of cricket, but no one, including the batter, protested the umpire's decision (as per ESPNcricinfo).
According to Clause 34.1.1 of the MCC Laws, a batter can be dismissed for “hit the ball twice” if the ball, while still in play, touches any part of their body or bat and they then deliberately strike it again with the bat or any part of the body (except a hand not holding the bat) before a fielder makes contact with the ball - unless that second strike is made only to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps.
Such out-of-law dismissals have been rare in cricket. So rare that the last instance of this rare dismissal in the Ranji Trophy came in 2005-06, when Jammu & Kashmir captain Dhruv Mahajan got out in a similar way. Other than these two, only three other batters in the history of Ranji Trophy got out on similar instances: Andhra's K Bavanna (1963-64), J&K's Shahid Parvez (1986-87), and Tamil Nadu's Anand George (1998-99). Ranji Trophy 2025–26: Shashi Tharoor Hails ‘Under-Publicised Talent’ Ravichandran Smaran After Another Double Century.
Ravi Ashwin Reacts
This strange dismissal even caught the eye of former Indian national cricket team legend Ravichandran Ashwin. The iconic spinner compared the incident with "gully cricket". R Ashwin highlighted that the dismissal of Lamabam Ajay Singh is "out only in gully cricket and not according to the actual laws of the game."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2025 01:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).