Ranji Trophy Game Halted After Man Drives Straight On to the Playing Arena
Nov 3, 2017 at 8:41 PM
In a shocking turn of events, a man claiming to be Girish Sharma drove his car on to the field of play at the Air Force Sports Complex in Palam during a Ranji Trophy clash between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at the Palam A Ground in New Delhi on Friday.
The man claimed to be lost and said he hadn’t seen any securities, but despite that, it looked like a deliberate ploy to drive over the pitch twice despite the fact that the players and the on-field umpires tried to stop him. There were many India internationals present during the game like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant.
The incident took place at 4.40 pm just 20 minutes from the end of the play. The umpires used the half-hour extension to make up for the over rate. The match referee despite the man running over the pitch with his car deemed the pitch playable after examining it. The final day of the match will begin as per schedule at 9.15 pm.
Uttar Pradesh who had bagged a slender first-innings lead were 224/7 when play was halted. This might prove to be decisive for both the team in ensuring an obvious result in their favor. Delhi who has won one out of the two matches were denied an outright victory in their opening clash under controversial circumstances.
With no possible venue available Delhi’s home fixture was shifted to the Palam Ground because the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi hosted the opening T20I between India and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, India will be looking to take an unassailable lead in the T20I series against the Kiwis at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Ground in Rajkot. The Men in Blue have looked in sublime form across all formats and are the overwhelming favorites to seal yet another series.