'There was a visitor on the field to delay the start of the match.'
In a bizarre incident, the start of a Ranji Trophy match between Vidarbha and Andhra on Monday was delayed by a few minutes after a snake entered the ground in Vijaywada.
Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal won the toss and elected to field. However, as the players made their way to the middle, a snake was spotted on the field and it resulted in a delay of few minutes.
"SNAKE STOPS PLAY! There was a visitor on the field to delay the start of the match," BCCI Domestic tweeted a 13-second video.
The official Twitter handle of BCCI Domestic posted a video in which the snake can be seen gliding on the field while seven to eight groundsmen trying to ensure that it slithers away.
Hosts Andhra were bowled out for 211 in their first innings with Hanuma Vihari top scoring with a fluent 83. In reply, Vidarbha reached 26 for no loss before stumps on the opening day.
Image: A snake enters the cricket ground in Vijayawada
Photograph: BCCI/Twitter
Jaffer first Indian to play 150 Ranji matches
Veteran opener Wasim Jaffer on Monday became the first player in Indian cricket to feature in 150 Ranji matches.
The 41-year-old from Maharashtra, who has been an important part of the title-winning Vidarbha team in the last two years, achieved the rare distinction during their Group A opener against Andhra Pradesh in Vijaywada.
The former India opener is now just 853 runs away from completing 20,000 runs in first class cricket.
Jaffer is followed by Madhya Pradesh batsman Devendra Bundela (145 matches) and Amol Muzumdar (136 matches), who played for Mumbai and Assam.
Overall, Jaffer has played 253 first-class games, scoring 19,147 runs at an average of 51.19. He has scored 57 hundreds and 88 fifties with 314 being his highest score.
The Mumbaikar has represented India in 31 Tests between 2000 and 2008, scoring 1944 runs which included five hundreds and 11 fifties.
He also has a double hundred to his name -- a highest score of 212 against West Indies in 2006 at St John's.
He also played two ODIs for India.
