Obstructing the field has always been a controversial rule in the history of cricket even despite the fact that things have made pretty clear in the rulebook. On Wednesday after a controversial decision during South Africa’s batting against West Indies in the ICC U-19 World Cup. South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay was given out for obstructing the field of play after what looked like an inoffensive decision to hand the ball back to the Windies keeper.

Facing West Indies pacer Jarion Hoyte, Pillay wasn’t able to time the ball and edged the ball back on to his pads. The ball started to roll towards the stumps but stopped in its path. The South Africa batsman then tapped the stationary ball with his bat, picked it up and threw it back to the Windies wicketkeeper and captain Emmanuel Stewart.

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The Windies skipper then talked to the two standing umpires before the call went upstairs. After a long wait, almost five minutes, the decision came as ‘OUT’ which left cricketing pundits on Twitter fuming.

The decision resulted in a divided field with former Australia player Lisa Sthalekar quick to show her displeasure. “Can’t believe what I am seeing @ICC #U19WorldCup,” she tweeted. “WI appealed for handling the ball. The ball had stopped rolling & the player picked it up.”

Can't believe what I am seeing @ICC #U19WorldCup. WI appealed for handling the ball. The ball had stopped rolling & the player picked it up.

— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) January 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/MitchJohnson398/status/953477277152526336

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Meanwhile, South Africa’s senior team skipper Faf du Plessis found the decision ‘an absolute joke’ and certainly not in the spirit of the game.

This is a absolute joke…not in the spirit of the game .I have done this almost a 100 times. https://t.co/nX0KUJ9PI4

— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) January 17, 2018

The rule in question, however, proves that the decision should have been ‘Out’. According to Law 37.4 (Returning the ball to a fielder), “Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he/she uses the bat or any part of his/her person to return the ball to any fielder.” As per the new law, introduced by ICC in 2017, handling the ball rule applies before the striker has “finished playing the ball” while obstructing the field applies afterward.

Here is the video of the dismissal:

The South African batsman Jiveshan Pillay was given out for this in the Under 19 World Cup game against the West Indies #U19CWC pic.twitter.com/abLvn9NrCb

— Rudi Edsall (@RudiEdsall) January 17, 2018