India vs South Africa 2nd T20I: Snake arrives on the ground to halt play momentarily in Guwahati

Guwahati, Oct 2: The second T20I between India and South Africa at the Barspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati had an unexpected visitor as a snake entered the ground during the Indian innings batting and forced the match to be interrupted for some time on Sunday (October 2).

It happened at the end of the seventh over when some South African fielders spotted the reptile crawling on the ground. They pointed it to India openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma - who were batting into the middle - and also to the on-field umpires.

The umpires signalled the groundstaff about the creature and rushed in with the necessary equipment. As it is a regular feature in these parts of the country, groundsmen were prepared for such eventualities and trapped the snake within minutes and ensured the play could be resumed in no time.

The incident became a subject of debate on Twitter as former cricketers and experts expressed their opinion on the appearance of the snake on the ground.

Game halted for a snake 🐍 It is just like Australian suburb grounds 👍🏽 #INDvsSA," tweeted former Australia women's cricketer Lisa Sthalekar.

Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop wrote on the micro-blogging site, "I have so many questions 🐍 😱."

Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted, "That is a first for me. A second snake on the ground. But the staff seemed prepared! Quick pick-up and off!"

Earlier in the day, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and invited his Indian counterpart Rohit Sharma to bat first. Indians were off to an electrifying start as the opening pair of Rohit and KL Rahul shared a stand of 96 runs for the first wicket. It was the 15th fifty-plus stand in the T20Is between the two and became a world record. The Indian openers had posted 57 runs inside the powerplay and dominated every South African bowler.