The dismissal of  South African batsman Jiveshan Pillay sparked a lot of controversies after the on-field umpires ruled him out.  Pillay lost his wicket while returning the ball to the West Indian wicketkeeper Emmanuel Stewart in the Group A encounter.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has finally come out with a decision on the dismissal and claimed it as a correct one, thereby putting an end to all the controversies circling around it. 

The MCC, on its website on Thursday, clarified saying, “This Law has been questioned – why should a batsman be punished for being helpful?

“The reason behind it is that a fielding team will often take enormous care to maintain the condition of the ball – and they are allowed to do so. Any external influence on the ball – including a sweaty glove – could change its condition unfairly,” it added.

“Batsmen are, therefore, instructed to leave the ball to the fielding side unless given specific consent to pick it up. It may seem harsh, but a scenario in which batsmen could, without any punishment, interfere with the ball would be far more problematic. Instead, all a batsman needs to remember is not to return the ball to any fielder without consent – as the popular adage goes: batsmen bat, bowlers bowl and let the fielders field,” it further added.

“There is another matter surrounding the often misunderstood Spirit of Cricket that has arisen around this incident. Some people have questioned whether the fielding captain should have withdrawn his appeal,” it concluded.