Cheteshwar Pujara out for handling ball in county cricket

Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was given out for handling the ball on the opening day of Derbyshire's English County Championship match against Leicestershire on Tuesday

London: Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was given out for handling the ball on the opening day of Derbyshire's English County Championship match against Leicestershire on Tuesday.

Pujara, the third man out, swatted away a ball from Atif Sheikh, the left-arm seamer, which looked headed towards the stumps while bouncing down, to depart for 6 off 21.

Cheteshwar Pujara

The 26-year-old right-hander, the International Cricket Council's Emerging Player of the Year in 2013, was dismissed in the 20th over, leaving hosts Derbyshire on 62-3.

Pujara became the first player to be given out handled the ball in England since 1996, when Karl Krikken was dismissed while playing for Derbyshire against India on the same ground. It was only the 59th time in the history of first-class cricket that such a dismissal has happened.

Handled the ball is a rare method of dismissal and has accounted for only seven batsmen in the history of Test cricket.

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