Recently a strange situation happened in one of our cricket matches. Just wondering if you can help me in understanding the rule. The batsman willfully extended his hand towards the ball while facing it. The ball hit him on Elbow of the hand (not holding the bat). I am sure he was "Handling the ball", had it hit his palm. But since it hit the elbow, is it
- Considered as deliberate padding
- Handling the ball as the rule says "Hand" and does not specifically mentions "Palm or Elbow of hand"
- I am ruling out "Obstructing the field", since that comes after the fielder has fielded the ball.
If it is handling the ball, then what happens in a case where batman uses his elbow to stop the ball from going to stumps after hitting it. Is that allowed?