Delhi’s attempt to avoid an outright win and snatch a point in the process from Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium saw some dramatic scenes involving tailender Navdeep Saini.
The hosts were eight wickets down on the last day of their Group D match, after following on. Having made a mammoth 674 for 6 batting first, Tamil Nadu bowled Delhi out for 266 in the first innings.
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While Tamil Nadu opener Sai Sudharsan (213) scored a double hundred, Washington Sundar (152) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (117) strucks centuries to lead their team’s big total.
Tamil Nadu skipper Narayan Jagadeesan enforced the follow-on and the visitors moved within sight of victory by taking eight wickets on Monday, when Saini tried to duck a bouncer but got hit on the helmet shortly before close of play.
At first Saini showed a thumbs-up sign to his partner but seemingly realised thereafter that it was a chance for him to waste some crucial minutes, which would help Delhi draw the match and earn a point.
With a hand on his head, Saini started walking towards the point area and soon fell flat on the ground.
Feeling that this was a staged act by Saini, a user on X wrote “best actor of cricket goes to Navdeep Saini” while posting a video clip of the incident.
The three points saw Tamil Nadu go top of Group D with a total of 10 points, while Delhi’s tally increased to 4 points but they stay in the bottom half at number five.