While delivering the ball, both feet of a bowler have to be inside the popping crease. If it goes outside, it is a ‘no’. In the Abu Dhabi T-10 League, Hazrat Bilal of the Samp Army team bowled such a ‘no’ ball, his front foot was more than a foot outside the popping crease. Such a ‘strange’ delivery has raised the eyebrows of cricket fans. Many are even raising the question of whether it is involved in fixing.

This incident took place in the Samp Army-New York Strikers match of the Abu Dhabi T-10 League on Saturday (November 22). The Strikers were batting in pursuit of Samp Army’s 136 runs. In the fourth over of the innings, Bilal bowled with his foot more than a foot outside against Pakistan batsman Asif Ali with the fourth ball. Asif, however, could not play any big shots, he took one run. Bilal’s ‘no’ delivery was so unusual that former South African captain Faf du Plessis, who was fielding on the field, laughed. The camera shows English pacer Reece Topley, who is on the sideline, smiling.

The next ball was a free hit as it was a ‘no’ ball. Donovan Ferreira hit the ball straight through extra cover for a long-distance six. Bilal’s team ultimately won the match. However, the unusual delivery of the right-arm pacer, who has played seven ODIs for the United Arab Emirates, has sparked widespread discussion on social media. Many are sharing pictures and videos of the ‘no’ ball and calling it ‘fixing’.

Former Australian opener Warner X wrote in the post, ‘Was it a free hit?’. Warner also tagged the Abu Dhabi T-10 League with three emojis. Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra posted a video of the incident and captioned it with three emojis of screaming in fear.

In the spot-fixing scandal that saw Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir banned from international cricket in 2010, a ‘no-ball’ was one such ‘unusual incident’. Although Amir’s foot was not as out of place as Bilal’s. The Abu Dhabi T10 League has also been tainted by fixing. Earlier this year, the ICC banned Pune Devils batting coach Ashar Zaidi and team owners Parag Shanghavi and Krishan Kumar Chowdhury for various terms for corruption in the 2021 edition.