Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari. (Credits: Twitter)

Usually rain or wet outfield has been the main reason for any delayed start to a cricket match. However, the start of the Ranji Trophy match between Andhra and defending champions Vidarbha was delayed by a bizarre reason. The game could not be started on time because a snake entered the ground. Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal won the toss and opted to field first against Andhra at the Dr. Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground in Vijayawada.

Soon, the players entered the field and just before the game’s scheduled start, the snake entered the playing arena and play was halted. Fortunately, there was no panic among the players on the field. The ground-staffs were then seen chasing the snake away from the field. And After a brief interruption, the opening day’s play got underway.

Here is a video of that incident: 

Meanwhile, Vidarbha will be looking for a solid start to their title defence. They have won the last two editions of the tournament and will be fancying their chances for a record third title in a row. Talking about the rivalry between Vidarbha and Andhra, both the teams have met twice in the competition previously.

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The two teams clashed for the first time in 2010-11 season at Nagpur when the match ended in a draw. Vidarbha had taken the first-innings lead on that occasion. In 2011-12 season, they met again and Andhra walked away with the first-innings lead.

Teams:

Andhra:

G. Hanuma Vihari (c), K. S. Bharat (wk), 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. Head coach: G. Jaya Kumar. Assistant coach: M. N. Vikram Varma.

Vidarbha:

Faiz Fazal (c), Ganesh Satish, Wasim Jaffer, Aditya Sarvate, Mohit Kale, Jitesh Sharma, Akshay Kolhar, R. Sanjay, Rajneesh Gurubani, Yash Thakur, Akshay Wadkar, Suniket Bingear and Akshay Karnewar. Head coach: Chandrakant Pandit.