Curran 'should have stood his ground'

England youngster Sam Curran unwillingly gave India a helping hand during their fightback on a tense opening day of the first Test at Edgbaston.

LIVE: Sam Curran triple-strike rattles India

The run out of Joe Root for 80 started a collapse of 3-8 from the hosts, bringing Curran to the crease alongside allrounder Ben Stokes as England looked to rebuild their innings.

Six wickets down became seven from the first ball of the 75th over when Stokes got a leading edge to a ball from off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, which lobbed slowly in the air towards the non-striker Curran, who instinctively moved out of the way to avoid being hit.

Curran's sudden shift to his left allowed Ashwin a free run at the ball and the spinner calmly moved across the pitch to take a simple return catch and send Stokes on his way.

While Curran's movement was undoubtedly a reflex action to avoid being struck, several former players were quick to point out that the 20-year-old could have prevented the dismissal had he stood his ground and not allowed Ashwin to easily take the catch.

It's illegal for a batter to intentionally obstruct a fielder from taking a catch, but there is no requirement for a batter to actively move out of the fielder's way.

Law 37.2 of the Laws of Cricket states in part: "A batsman shall not be out Obstructing the field if ... obstruction or distraction is accidental or obstruction is in order to avoid injury".

Obstructing the field is one of the rarest of the nine modes of dismissal in cricket; the wicket of England legend Len Hutton obstructing the field in a match in 1951 remains the only instance in men's Tests.

There have been several recent examples in limited-overs internationals; Stokes was given out obstructing the field in an ODI against Australia in 2015, as was England opener Jason Roy in a T20 match against South Africa last year, and India batter Anuja Patil in the women's Asia Cup final just two months ago.

Closer to home, Brisbane Heat batsman Alex Ross was controversially given out obstructing the field in a KFC BBL match against Hobart last summer.

The examples of Stokes, Roy, Patil and Ross all involved the player intentionally obstructing a fielder from attempting a run out, but it's extremely rare for a batter to be out for obstructing an opponent from taking a catch.

Had Curran actively moved towards Ashwin and prevented the Indian from taking the catch, and the umpires had ruled that Curran's actions were intentional, Stokes would have been dismissed obstructing the field even though he had not personally obstructed a fielder.