India captain withdraws appeal amid Spirit of Cricket in Dubai

India captain Suryakumar Yadav withdrew an appeal after a United Arab Emirates batter was given out during the Asia Cup match in Dubai on Wednesday, a rare act of on-field sportsmanship that came moments before the same batsman was dismissed again and the UAE were bundled out for 57. The incident occurred in the 13th over of the UAE innings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium when Shivam Dube bowled a short delivery that the batter missed and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson collected.

Umpires referred the play to the third umpire, who signalled that the batsman was out of his crease. Replays showed the batter had stepped out and did not make his ground after appearing to react to something on the pitch. Suryakumar walked over to the on-field umpire and rescinded India's appeal, recalling the batter, officials said. Several reports and match footage showed the fall was prompted by a towel slipping from Dube's pocket during his run-up, which appeared to distract the striker. Law 20.4.2.7 of cricket's code allows an umpire to call a dead ball if the striker is distracted by movement or noise, and India’s decision to withdraw the appeal was widely described as prompted by that...