Watch, BBL | Shamsi celebrates maiden wicket with witty phone call gesture to third umpire

‌Adelaide Strikers continued to struggle in the Big Bash League 2025-26, losing their third game in four matches with a 33-run defeat to Perth Scorchers in Perth. Though the spin duo of Lloyd Pope and Tabraiz Shamsi picked up seven wickets between them to restrict the big-hitting Scorchers side to 153/8, the visitors could manage just 120 before being bowled out with 11 balls to spare.

However, Shamsi had a memorable start to his BBL career with an impressive spell of 3/30 in four overs, being one of the bright spots for the Strikers in an otherwise sloppy showing. The left-arm wrist spinner accounted for Mitchell Marsh, Cooper Connolly, and captain Ashton Turner to put the home side on the back foot after an excellent start.

After picking up his maiden BBL wicket in Marsh in his first-ever appearance at the Perth Stadium, the South African spinner pulled off his trademark shoephone celebration. After exchanging high-fives with his teammates, he pointed his fingers in the direction of the TV umpire and then removed his shoe to dial an imaginary number and placed it on his ear.

He once again pointed in that direction before pumping his shoe-laden left hand with a smile. He clarified that it was not a send off to batters and it was his way of validating a dismissal with the third umpire.

"There's a lot of misconceptions that it's a send-off for the batter, but it's absolutely not that," Shamsi said after the match. "I'm never looking at the batter. It's just me phoning the third umpire to check if it's out or not out."

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