Indian cricketers have a lot of fan-following in the country. In the past few months, fans have invaded Indian pitches during matches to shake hands and click selfies with their favourite players causing an interruption in the play. But on Sunday, it was a surprise guest who invaded the pitch which caused the play to be halted. This surprise guest was a black dog.
A black dog entered the field of play when middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were rebuilding India after top-order batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were dismissed early on.
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The incident took place at the start of the 26th over. Windies seamer Keemo Paul had the ball and he was about to take his run-up with Iyer on strike. But the players had to wait with a black dog taking a stroll in the ground. As ground staff tried to catch the dog, it started sprinting at fast pace, running away from its potential captors.
The dog, then, ran around the boundary ropes for a while, and then re-entered the ground. West Indies player tried to catch him, but it got away. After running for some more time, much to the cheers of the Chepauk crowd, it finally ran off the ground and the play was restarted. Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary duties at the time, was heard screaming - “12th man on the field. 12th man on the field.”
{{/usCountry}}The dog, then, ran around the boundary ropes for a while, and then re-entered the ground. West Indies player tried to catch him, but it got away. After running for some more time, much to the cheers of the Chepauk crowd, it finally ran off the ground and the play was restarted. Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary duties at the time, was heard screaming - “12th man on the field. 12th man on the field.”
{{/usCountry}}West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to field. India handed an ODI debut to Shivam Dube, who had impressed in the T20I series.