 "Timeout in cricket")
With Angelo Mathews becoming the first player in the history of cricket to be adjudged timed-out, the memories of Sourav Ganguly not given out despite coming to the crease after 6 minutes came to foray.
During India's tour of South Africa in 2007, former captain Sourav Ganguly was involved in a situation when he could have become the first player in the history of cricket to be given timed-out for being late for batting.
Here's what the incident was like during the India vs South Africa Test:
During the second innings in the 2007 Cape Town Test, India lost both openers by the second ball of the second over. Sachin Tendulkar was slotted next to bat at number 4 but was not allowed to do so due to his time off the field a day earlier when the Proteas were batting. With Jaffer getting out at 10:43 AM, the fourth umpire informed the Indian dressing room that Sachin couldn't bat till 10:48 AM. After Tendulkar, VVS Laxman was slotted to bat, but he was in the shower; this forced Sourav Ganguly to change and come to the crease quickly. However, the prince of Kolkata took six minutes to get ready.
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According to the laws of cricket, Graeme Smith, who was leading South Africa then, had all the rights to appeal. But the Proteas captain opted not to do so, even umpire Daryl Harper explained the whole scenario to him.
However, the captain of the opposing team has the discretion to request the umpire to overlook the 'timed out' rule if they believe there are valid grounds for the batsman's delay.
