Opener alishan sharafu

Dubai International Cricket Stadium: A rare moment of sportsmanship took centre stage during India’s Asia Cup opening game against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, when skipper Suryakumar Yadav withdrew a successful stumping appeal against Junaid Siddique – only for the batter to fall the very next ball.

The incident occurred in the 13th over when Shivam Dube was running in to bowl. Just as he delivered, the blue towel tucked in his back pocket slipped out onto the pitch. Distracted by that, Siddique threw his bat at the ball but missed, and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson collected it cleanly.

Instead of regaining his ground, Siddique pointed towards the fallen towel and lingered outside his crease. Samson seized the chance by whipping off the bails, and the third umpire ruled him out - an incident which reminded of the manner in which Jonny Bairstow was run out by Alex Carey in the second Ashes Test at Lord's in 2023.