Scissor-kick catch in Indian cricket catches the attention of Sachin Tendulkar – but was it legal?

An amateur cricket player in India has pulled off a fielding play so audacious and so talented that it has attracted the attention of the country’s greatest ever player, Sachin Tendulkar.

The Indian cricket great re-tweeted the footage of the catch with the caption ‘This is what happens when you bring a guy who also knows how to play football’ accompanied by football, cricket bat and ball and laughing emojis.

His re-tweet has reached over 3.3million cricket fans and they were divided on the legality of the play.

Kiran Tarlekar was playing in the Shree Chasahak India Tennis Ball Cricket Tournament when batsman Bablu Mangore clobbered a ball that looked certain to be six runs.

Tarlekar got a hand to the ball, but was teetering on the boundary line so he tossed it up in the air.

In many cricket matches, that usually results in the player leaping over the boundary line and tossing the ball back into the field of play for a legal catch.

However Tarlekar had over ideas. He jumped over the boundary rope but was flat-footed with the ball still in the air. 

Thinking quickly, he performed an amazing scissor kick to propel the ball back into the field of play and into the waiting hands of a catcher. 

Fans were divided over the legality of the wicket, with many calling for the law to change because they believe it should have been six runs

The amazing play attracted the attention of Tendulkar and cricket fans around the world.

His teammates ran in to celebrate and claimed the wicket, but fans were not so sure.

Many praised the efforts, saying it deserved to be a wicket, with one in fact saying it was the ‘greatest of all-time’. Others said because he stood outside of the field of play, it was six runs and no wicket.

Many others again said cricket laws need to be amended to clarity what constitutes a catch with innovative new plays coming out all the time in limited overs cricket. 

To clear things up, the incorrect call was made and the ball should have counted for six.

Under Law 19.5.2 of the Marylebone Cricket Club guidelines that apply to all levels of cricket: 

‘A fielder who is not in contact with the ground is considered to be grounded beyond the boundary if his/her final contact with the ground, before his/her first contact with the ball after it has been delivered by the bowler, was not entirely within the boundary.’ 

Because the fielder in this instance landed on the ground outside of the boundary and then made a secondary jump to pull off the spectacular play, the hit should have earned six runs and the batsman should have been safe.