In a bizarre moment, Pakistan's batter Saud Shakeel was timed out while playing for State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) versus Pakistan Television (PTV) in the President's Cup Grade 1 First-Class tournament. The reason behind being timed out was that he couldn't wake up at the time of batting. Shakeel, playing for State Bank of Pakistan, emerged late from the dugout on day two of the final of the President's Trophy, a domestic first-class competition in Pakistan. Two wickets fell in two balls. Amad Butt, the captain of the opposing PTV, filed an appeal when Shakeel failed to take guard within the requisite three minutes.
The event occurred when SBP, batting first at 128-1, found themselves in difficulty after Mohammad Shahzad dismissed captain Umar Amin and Fawad Alam with consecutive deliveries. Shakeel, the next batter, arrived later than authorized, and PTV capitalized on the situation with a winning appeal. Adding to this bizarre incident, Mohammad Shahzad clean bowled Mohammad Irfan on the next ball, claiming a hat-trick. This resulted in SBP's innings wrapping up for 205.
Saud Shakeel not the first batter to be timed out
The 29-year-old batsman, Shakeel who was also the part of Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 team, isn't the first batsman to face the time out. According to the report by Cricket.com, there were six other batsmen who faced the similar situation. Before him, Andrew Jordaan (South Africa), Hemulal Yadav (India), Vasbert Drakes and Ryan Austin (West Indies), AJ Harris (England), and Charles Kunje (Zimbabwe) were other international players who got timed out in first-class cricket.
This unusual dismissal of Shakeel isn't the only thing that makes the President's Trophy interesting. Since Muslims are observing Ramadan month, when they avoid eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset, PCB is playing all its tournaments at night with day's play running between 7:30 pm to 2.30am, with tea and dinner breaks included.
Shakeel, being a star batsman for Pakistan, has played 19 Tests and ODI matches scoring 1658 runs and 408 runs. He carries an impressive average of 50.24 in Test matches and 27.20 average in ODI.
