A rare incident took place on May 10 when United Arab Emirates (UAE) retired out their entire team by sending every batter to the ground. It is being hailed as a tactical masterstroke. As there was rain threat looming over the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier clash, UAE retired out their entire team as they had enough runs on the board to beat Qatar. A day after the bizarre scorecard made rounds on social media, the UAE head coach Ahmed Raza said that he asked the umpires whether he could declare the innings and then asked the match referee if he could retire out the entire team.
"Whilst the innings was going on we started hearing thunder and slight drizzle started," Raza said as quoted by the ICC.
"I went to the umpires and checked whether we could declare but in white-ball cricket you can not declare.
"I then asked the match referee if I could retire my whole team out."
Big win for UAE
UAE had 192 runs on the board after 16 overs. Skipper Esha Rohit Oza was unbeaten for 113 off 55 balls. On the other end, wicketkeeper-batter Theertha Satish was batting on 42-ball 77. The rest of the team retired out for 0. The move paid off as UAE bowled out Qatar for 29 in 11.1 overs and won the match by a huge margin of 163 runs.
Raza meant no disrespect to Qatar
After the convincing win that helped UAE register their second win and rise to the top of the points table, Raza said that he did not mean to disrespect the opposition.
"With the thunder and drizzle we just had to make sure the whole game was played because the weather has been around," Raza further explained.
"At the start of our bowling innings it was already drizzling and we were scared of the thunderstorm. There was not enough time. It was all done purely to get a result.
"By doing this I meant no disrespect to anyone involved, our opposition. Everything that happened was within the laws and was well communicated with the match referee.
"This extraordinary series of events should not overshadow our captain's hundred and our opening stand of 192 and our bowlers doing the remaining job."
UAE are set to advance to the Super Three stage of the tournament. The top two teams at the end of the tournament will qualifier for the Global Qualifier which will be held in 2026.