5 Instances where a Cricket match was stopped for weird reasons
India got their tour of New Zealand underway at Maclean Park in Napier. The visitors got off to a splendid start and skittled the hosts for a paltry 157. Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami were the wreckers-in-chief as they bagged four and three wickets respectively.
India got off to a good start and were 41-0 at the dinner break. However, their chase was halted for a strange reason as they came out to bat in the second half. After Ferguson fired a wide down the leg-side in the 11th over, Dhawan complained of the sun and its direct rays causing discomfort in spotting the ball.
The umpires took immediate action and asked the players to accompany them off the field. Play wasn’t resumed until at least half an hour had passed and the sun had set.
Thus, the incident of the players walking off due to ‘too much light’ was quite amusing and surprising. Yet, this wasn’t the first occasion where a cricket match had been stopped for a weird reason.
Hence, through this article, we would take a trip down memory lane and relive some other occasions where cricket fans where left equally bewildered, if not more, at the reason cited for the stoppage in play.
#5 Car halts play in Delhi
In 2017, Delhi were playing Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy at the Palam Air Force Ground. The match featured the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Suresh Raina. On the 3rd day of the said game, a car mysteriously drove onto the field, escaping all security.
A gate of the stadium was directly connected to the main road and with the appropriate personnel not at their post, the driver was accorded a free run into the ground. The car even circled around the pitch twice before its adventure was cut short.
However, once the car entered, the officials were quick to negate his exit points and later handed over the offender to the police. Though the driver claimed that he panicked and it was an honest mistake, it still represents as one of the most extraordinary reasons for a cricket game being stopped.