Editing Run out (section)

===Ball in play===
The batter can only be run out if the ball is in play and not a [[Dead ball]]. In the majority of run outs there is little question over the status of play but the dead ball law can become involved when players leave the crease under a mistaken impression that the ball is dead when it is not.

The batters may cause a run out by intentionally leaving the crease without any attempt to score a run. This can be to talk to the non-striker, to pat the pitch or a celebration of a milestone. They can do this because of the customary understanding with the fielding team that the ball is considered dead at that time. If that understanding breaks down or if a fielder has not yet returned the ball to the wicket keeper or bowler the team might put down the wicket. The fielding team must appeal for any dismissal to occur, and the fielding captain may withdraw the appeal if they view it to be unwarranted by the spirit of the game. If an appeal is made the umpire must give the batter out if they are out of their ground unless it was a dead ball by that point. In a Test match in 2006 [[Muttiah Muralitharan]] left his crease after completing one run, to congratulate [[Kumar Sangakkara]] on century. Muralitharan was run out by [[Brendon McCullum]], the appeal stood and the innings closed with Sangakkara finishing on 100 not out.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/no-regrets-on-controversial-murali-run-out-fleming-271912|title=No regrets on controversial Muralitharan run out - Fleming|access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref> McCullum subsequently stated that he regretted that his actions were not within the spirit of the game.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/brendon-mccullum-s-mcc-spirit-of-cricket-lecture-full-transcript-1023531|title='Cricket was meant to be a game, not a life or death struggle'|access-date=2 July 2023}}</ref> 

Law 31.7 (Batter leaving the wicket under a misapprehension) allows the umpires to call a dead ball when a player believes they were out. This can impact on a run out if for example the player believed they had been caught, or that an umpire had signalled an out for another type of dismissal, and left the crease to then leave the field. [[Shan Masood]] benefited from this law in 2024 when he would have been out [[Hit wicket]] off a [[No-ball]], with the umpire declaring a dead ball before he was run out at the bowlers end after he gave up on running due to the hit wicket while his partner had run to the other end.

In a Test match against India in 2011, [[Ian Bell]] was initially given run out after leaving his crease, wrongly assuming his shot had reached the [[boundary (cricket)|boundary]], but the appeal was later withdrawn by the fielding captain [[MS Dhoni]] and Bell was allowed to resume his innings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc-awards-2011-ms-dhoni-wins-spirit-of-cricket-award-532185|title=Dhoni wins Spirit of Cricket award|access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref> The essential distinction of this incident is that the ball is automatically dead when it reaches the boundary (interpretation by the umpire is not required), and so Bell left his crease under a misapprehension that may have been reinforced by the actions of some of the fielding team, who were under the same misapprehension. An intention to deceive the batter is explicitly unfair and would itself cause the ball to become adjudged dead by the umpire, but otherwise a batter is still run out on appeal if they are out of their ground wrongly believing the ball to have become automatically dead.<ref name="UFP"/> [[Azhar Ali]] was run out in identical manner playing against Australia. The ball stopped well before the boundary, [[Mitchell Starc]] returned the ball to wicketkeeper Tim Paine and broke the wicket as Azhar and batting partner [[Asad Shafiq]] were standing in the middle of the pitch watching as the ball was thrown in. Azhar later spoke about the incident, calling it "my own fault" and that his family would remind him about it for years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-18/azhar-ali-involved-in-one-of-crickets-most-farcical-deliveries/10393502 | title=Azhar Ali expects years of sledging after farcical run-out against Australia | work=ABC News | date=18 October 2018 }}</ref>