Azhar and Shafiq's collective brainfade

It was a good thing Azhar Ali's oldest son came to the ground only after his father had been dismissed. Run-out in the most ridiculous circumstances. No, really. It was so bad that Azhar feared "whenever I say something to them [his kids] they are going to come back to me about this run-out."

One hundred and thirty Tests, over 9000 runs, 25 hundreds, and over 20,000 balls faced between them, and you'd think one of them would make sure the ball had actually crossed the boundary before standing mid-pitch to chat.

Yet, neither Azhar nor Asad Shafiq checked to see where the ball had stopped, leading to - even by Pakistan's rich standards - one of the most bizarre run-outs.

It happened in the ninth over of the morning, and the 53rd of the innings, bowled by Peter Siddle. Off the third ball, Azhar edged a stroke through the gully region, just past Shaun Marsh.

Once it went past him, Azhar assumed the ball would roll to the boundary. Presumably, professional cricketers are taught to make sure about these things from a young age, but Azhar also ignored the evidence of the last couple of days, when the outfield has slowed considerably.

Azhar strolled a few yards out of the crease, and Shafiq came to meet him. There was a fist-bump. Maybe they talked about the weather. Unseen to them, the ball had stopped before the boundary and Mitchell Starc was chasing it down.

Starc, incidentally, is suffering from a tight hamstring, so it wasn't as if Azhar was up against Usain Bolt's speed here. Tim Paine twigged to what was happening and ran up to the stumps to collect the throw. Azhar and Shafiq saw this but remained motionless, somehow between all their experience, failing to figure out what was happening.

The throw came in, Paine whipped off the bails, and collectively the cricket world chortled.

Azhar turned up gamely post-play, knowing that the run-out would be the only question he was asked. No they weren't discussing the day's menu or the weather in the middle.

"We were just discussing that the ball was swinging a bit late. We both didn't realise something like this could happen. We didn't see anyone chasing that ball. When Starc threw the ball we still didn't think anything was happening but when it landed in the glove of the keeper we realised something funny was happening. The way the shot was hit to a fast bowler and the edge flew I thought it reached the boundary. But there is no excuse. Everyone was pulling our leg in the dressing room but that moment it was a shock."

Azhar suspects he's not going to hear the end of it even at home. "They're going to speak about it for years."

Where does it rank in the canon of great Pakistani run-outs? Perhaps there's too many to recall, though this from 2016 is a contender.