WATCH: Dog invades pitch and interrupts play, Hardik Pandya’s reaction goes VIRAL

Hardik Pandya's first game as captain did not go as planned.

WATCH: Dog invades pitch and interrupts play, Hardik Pandya’s reaction goes VIRAL

Hardik Pandya (Image via IPL)

Many times cricket matches have been interrupted by the weirdest of reasons. On 24th March, the match between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants saw interruptions due to the spider camera falling down and a zing bail malfunctioning. 

Later in the evening, a pitch invader caused a delay during the clash between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians. The thing that made this invader special was that it wasn’t a human, but a dog. It ran around the pitch during the 15th over of the first innings, which was being bowled by Hardik Pandya. 

YouTube video

Pandya, who was already being treated with boos and heckles by the Ahmedabad crowd, was not bowling well. In the 13 balls he had bowled so far, he had conceded 21. When the dog came running near him, the MI captain tried calling the dog near him so that he could pet it, but the dog ran away, ignoring the all-rounder. 

https://twitter.com/NiPuN_045/status/1771918099085656200

Hardik Pandya says cricketing birth happened in Mumbai 

When Hardik Pandya made his name in the world of cricket, it occurred in the IPL. Joining Mumbai Indians in 2015, he had an incredible debut season which saw him soon getting called up to the Indian team and making his debut in all formats within the next two years. Before the toss of his first match as MI’s captain, he spoke about his love for the team. 

Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya celebrates with his teammates (Image via IPL) 
Feels good to be back. My birthplace is Gujarat, a lot of success came in Gujarat, very grateful to the crowd and this state. My cricketing birth happened in Mumbai, so really good to be back. It’s been almost two weeks, we started the camp. Boys are very eager to go out there and perform.
Hardik Pandya before the toss

Unfortunately, his first match as MI captain ended as a loss. Electing to field first, MI restricted the Titans to 168, with Jasprit Bumrah being the pick of the bowlers. They couldn’t chase down the score, as Shubman Gill used his bowlers smartly and won by six runs. 

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