The heat of the Ranji Trophy final was so high that it almost burst on Wednesday, Feb 25 at Hubballi when Paras Dogra, the captain of Jammu & Kashmir, was hit with a fine equal to 50 percent of his match fee after he got into a scuffle with KV Aneesh, a substitute for Karnataka. According to Cricbuzz, the incident of the veteran leader going off the rails momentarily eclipsed the day when J&K kept their crusade for the first, ever title going.
The flashpoint was made in the 101st over of the J&K innings. Dogra had just barely managed to poke a short ball from pacer Prasidh Krishna through backward point for a four. After the shot, Aneesh, who was at silly point, is said to have targeted the captain with a few verbal volleys. Disabled from the moment, Dogra confronted the fielder and when he was going to headbutt, one of the players quickly intervened.
The situation escalated quickly as Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal rushed to his teammate’s defense. Heated words were exchanged between Agarwal and Dogra before the on-field umpires stepped in to separate the senior players and restore order. While Dogra offered an apology to Aneesh at the conclusion of the over, the match referee took a dim view of the “physical” nature of the confrontation.
Reflecting on the incident after the day’s play, Dogra attempted to downplay the severity of the clash. “It’s not a big deal, it happened in the heat of the moment. A bit of these exchanges keep going on, especially when you’re playing the final. We defused the situation right there. After that he started chatting again,” Dogra told reporters.
His batting partner at the time, Kanhaiya Wadhwan, echoed the sentiment that such friction is a byproduct of high-stakes cricket. “It happens, part of the game. Sledging happens – it was happening from both sides. A bit from our side and a bit from them. Nothing intentional. It was sorted out soon,” Wadhwan remarked.
