Poisonous snake spreads terror during Ranji Trophy match in Bengal

Snake halts Ranji match and frightens Vidarbha fielders

The ongoing Ranji Trophy match between Bengal and Vidarbha at the JU Salt Lake Campus ground was forced to a unique interruption on Day 1, when a four-foot long snake slithered into the field of play from the pavilion end and crept up near the bowler Swapnil Bandiwar.

Eyewitnesses claim the intruder was poisonous (probably one of the Big Four — cobra, krait, Russell’s viper, and saw-scaled viper).

The incident happened in the morning session, and was brought to an end by members of the Bengal support staff shooing the reptile away. Braver groundsmen also joined in with sticks, and the match resumed after a break of about five minutes.

Despite not being seen during the match again, the snake had left a heavy impression. Vidarbha fielders were left looking around uneasily for the rest of the day as the Bengal top order made merry.

Abhimanyu Easwaran notched his sixth first class half-century, Sayan Mondal struck his maiden fifty, and Sudip Chatterjee continued his stellar form by scoring another century. Bengal finished the day at 217/7 after losing quick wickets towards the end, but finished their innings at a more comfortable 334 on Day 2.

Snake spotted in dressing room, the snake which had frightened England players

What spread further fear was that a snake was later found in the Bengal dressing-room toilet as well. It is not known whether the second sighting was of the same snake. Concerningly, there were no safety precautions in place at the Salt Lake ground, not even carbolic acid.

“The snake was also spotted near the Bengal dressing room but we put chemicals to shoo it away," a Bengal cricket official said to PTI.

"We're taking all precautionary measures so that no snake is spotted in the remaining days," he added.

Snakes have made very few recorded appearances in cricket, but one other incident from Sri Lanka can be found in recent history. When England were playing Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at Colombo in 2007-08, England fielders refused to field at long-leg because a snake had positioned itself there.

And unlike the Kolkata match, nobody had bothered to attempt to move the snake on that occasion.

An international U-19 event, featuring Afghanistan and Bangladesh, will be played at this ground from 20th November onwards. The ground also serves as Bengal’s second choice home stadium for Ranji Trophy matches.

When Snake stopped play... Bengal vs Vidarbha, #RanjiTrophy match at the JU Salt Lake campus Ground, Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/ShxzQtjAWF

— Sandipan Banerjee (@im_sandipan) November 8, 2015