Published 12:58 IST, December 9th 2019
Ranji Trophy: Snake enters field to delay start of Vidarbha-Andhra match, watch video
Ranji Trophy: In a bizarre incident, the start of the game between Andhra and Vidarbha was delayed after a snake entered the ground. Read to know more about it
Advertisement
The Ranji Trophy 2019 got underway on Monday with teams geared up to play against each other. Andhra are taking on defending champions Vidarbha in their first game of the season. Faiz Fazal, who is leading Vidarbha, won the toss and opted to field first against Andhra at the Dr Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground in Vijayawada.
Vidarbha vs Andhra: Snake enters the field and delays play
However, in a bizarre incident, the start of the game between the two teams was delayed after a snake entered the ground. After the players had made their way into the middle and moments before play was about to begin, the reptile entered the playing arena and play had to be delayed. 'BCCI Domestic', which is the official Twitter account of domestic cricket in India, posted the video of the snake that was seen slithering across the field as the ground staff tried to chase the reptile away. The account tweeted "SNAKE STOPS PLAY! There was a visitor on the field to delay the start of the match."
BCCI's Tweet
SNAKE STOPS PLAY! There was a visitor on the field to delay the start of the match.
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 9, 2019
Follow it live - https://t.co/MrXmWO1GFo#APvVID @paytm #RanjiTrophy pic.twitter.com/1GptRSyUHq
The players waited for the serpent to leave the field and then Day 1 action got underway. Andhra face a mammoth task in their opening match as they take defending champions Vidarbha. The team from the western part of the country have clinched the prestigious title in the last two seasons and will aim to make it three in a row. Andhra's team is led by India's Test specialist Hanuma Vihari.
Andhra squad: G. Hanuma Vihari (Captain), K. S. Bharat (Wicket-keeper), Ricky Bhui, D. B. Prashanth Kumar, C. R. Gyaneshwar, Jyothi Sai Krishna, K. Karan Shinde, B. Sumanth, P. Girinath Reddy, B. Ayyappa, K. V. Sashikanth, Ch. Stephen, P. Vijay Kumar, Y. Pruthvi Raj, G. Manish and D. Naren Reddy.
Vidarbha: Faiz Fazal (Captain), Akshay Wadkar (Wicket-keeper), Ganesh Satish, Wasim Jaffer, Aditya Sarvate, Mohit Kale, Jitesh Sharma, Akshay Kolhar, R. Sanjay, Rajneesh Gurubani, Yash Thakur, Suniket Bingear and Akshay Karnewar.
12:06 IST, December 9th 2019