"I'd bend down as if I was going to pick the ball up, then I'd pluck a bit of grass" - Ian Chappell tells fascinating Sunil Gavaskar tale
Former Australian batter Ian Chappell has recalled Sunil Gavaskar once telling him that while batting against Pakistan, the Indian opener used to occasionally pretend to bend down and pick the ball up to pass to a fielder before just plucking grass instead.
This act of passing the ball without the consent of the fielding side is not allowed in cricket under Law 37.4. It's there to prevent 'obstructing the field' incidents where batters, on the pretext of helping the fielding side, can prevent getting out.
It has been in the news recently after England batter Hamza Shaikh was given out against Zimbabwe at the Under-19 World Cup for picking and passing the ball after playing a defensive shot. The fielding side appealed and the umpires upheld it but a debate ensued on social media with some calling it against the 'spirit of cricket'.
"I said to Sunil Gavaskar, he'd retired by this stage, he was commentating..." Chappell told Wide World of Sports on Monday. "I said to him 'Sonny, did you ever touch the ball when you were batting?' He said 'never, except occasionally against Pakistan. I'd be at the non-strikers end, they'd play the ball back and it was stopped just near me. And I'd bend down as if I was going to pick the ball up, then I'd pluck a bit of grass."
"There were two blokes in the opposition who said 'come on old man, pick the ball up' - Javed (Miandad) and Sarfraz (Nawaz) that's the two. He said 'I knew if I touched the ball, one of them would appeal!'" Chappell added.
Since the incident with Shaikh, several batters have started avoiding picking the ball up.
Ian Chappell remembers his father's lesson on obstructing the field
Ian Chappell said he had known the rule since he was 10 when he watched his father, Martin, in a local match in Australia. A batter against Martin's team was given out obstructing the field but kept on batting by leveraging his seniority.
"In the car going home, Martin said to me, 'what did you think of the decision?' I said 'the batsman's out, you don't touch the ball with your hand when you're batting'," Chappell recalled. "Martin said to me, and I'll never ever forget his words 'I never ever want to see you get out that way' and I never did."
Chappell also called the "spirit of cricket" debate a load of bollocks, adding that cricketers should focus on playing by the rules and avoiding all other "crap".