It is often said that a game of cricket is not over until the last ball is bowled or the last run scored. However, there have been situations, when the game of cricket was stopped due to weird reasons. At a time when international cricket is making a comeback albeit slowly from the time of the pandemic, such instances do make you think about the insecurity associated with the sport.
While the play has been often called off due to bad or poor light, sunshine has also acted as a hindrance in the game of cricket in New Zealand in the recent past. In this article, we look at 5 instances when the game of cricket was stopped due to weird reasons.
5 instances when the game of cricket was stopped due to weird reasons:
1. Highway Closure Due to Fog
Afghanistan recently beat Ireland 3-0 in an ODI series which was a part of the Cricket World Cup Super League. In the series, the third and final game started an hour late as the team bus reached the stadium late due to fog. As a result of the fog, the highway was closed which meant that the players were not able to reach the stadium on time.
However, due to the Cricket World Cup Super League, there are no dead rubbers, which means both teams have more incentive than usual.
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2. Man Driving His Car Into Stadium
In a Ranji Trophy game between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in November 2017 was delayed because a man drove his car into the Palam sports complex, where the game was being played. He drove into the stadium and then ended up parking the car on the pitch leading the players and the umpires surprised.
Ishant Sharma’s Delhi ended up winning the game by successfully chasing the target of 252 set by the opposition. No casualties were reported in the mishap.
3. Nathan Lyon’s Luck Runs Out
Nathan Lyon recently played his 100th Test match for Australia in the final Test against India at The Gabba. India beat Australia by three wickets and won the series.
Meanwhile, there was an instance when Nathan Lyon’s mistake ended up delaying a match. During a Sheffield Shield game between New South Wales and Queensland in 2017, Lyon decided to make himself a slice of toast.
However, he got carried away watching the game and in the process completely forgot about the toast. The burnt toast set off the fire alarm, which led to a delay in proceedings and when the fire engines arrived, Lyon had to make a rather embarrassing confession. The play was brought to halt for over 30 minutes.
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4. Delay in Food Delivery
Delay in food delivery forced a Test match between Bangladesh and South Africa to be postponed. Both the teams had separate caterers, and Bangladesh’s food arrived late which caused the delay. However, it was later revealed that a wrong printed menu was the main reason behind the delay in proceedings. This is another example of the game of cricket being held up due to a weird reason.
5. When The Umpires Forgot About The Ball in IPL 2018
In an IPL game between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019, the ball wasn’t to be found after a strategic time-out was taken in the 14th over of the first innings when RCB were batting.
The fourth umpire came out with a fresh box of balls only to find that one of the onfield umpires had kept the ball in his pocket during the break and completely forgot about it. The culprit was Indian umpire Shamshuddin who realised that he had the ball in his pocket after seeing replays on the big screen.
The game was finally won by RCB on the back of an AB De Villiers 82-run knock. This was one of the most hilarious incidents to have ever happened in the IPL.
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