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Cricket in ‘new normal’ has witnessed several never-seen-before regulations during the pandemic era.
Cricketers are encouraged to have minimal contact, with fist-bumps replacing high-fives. The umpires do not carry the caps and belongings of players anymore. More significantly, the sport is played in front of empty stadiums.
The game has also seen a reduced involvement of the ground staff members, which includes the ball-boys.
Earlier, the ball-boys used to retrieve the ball which travelled across the fence. Or, the spectators sent the ball back to players. Now, players have to do the retrieving act all by themselves.
The 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has also witnessed players’ struggling to retrieve the ball, with no spectators present to watch the stars in action.
Even Jamaica Tallawahs’ (JT) all-rounder, Carlos Brathwaite, was made to go through the treasure-hunt-esque challenge, a week back.
During the high-octane clash of CPL 2020 final, St Lucia Zouks’ (SLZ) all-rounder Mohammad Nabi had a similar conundrum in the fifth over of Trinbago Knight Riders’ (TKR) batting innings.
Nabi’s struggle to trace the ball
The Zouks reduced TKR to 18 for 2, with a daunting chase of 155 runs in front of them. Then, the new man at the crease, Darren Bravo, decided to counterattack the sixth ball he faced with a gorgeous six.
The ball managed to sail across the fence drop somewhere in between the effigies placed in the stands. Thereby, Bravo got off the mark in some style.
Nabi was made to retrieve the ball and he had his own challenges to find the ball, reminding him of his backyard or gully cricket days.
Here’s the video:
Spot the ball 👀 #CPL20pic.twitter.com/icNSZPg2gu
— ICC (@ICC) September 10, 2020
Coming back to the match, the partnership between Bravo and Lendl Simmons sealed TKR’s win over the Zouks by a margin of eight wickets.
The duo added 139 runs for the third wicket and took their team across the finishing line. Simmons scored a match-winning knock of 84 off 49 balls.
Thus, TKR went on to clinch their fourth CPL title by finishing unbeaten throughout the tournament.
