In a bizarre occurrence, a man drove onto the field of play and over the pitch during a Ranji Trophy encounter between hosts Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

The Ranji Trophy is India’s premier domestic first-class competition and the match being held at the Air Force Complex in Palam had to be halted when the man, identified as Girish Sharma drove onto the field of play 20 minutes before the close of play.

With a number of international stars such as Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina and Rishab Pant in action, the players could only look on in bemusement as Sharma drove over the pitch.

Sharma later said that he had merely lost track of directions before wandering into the ground aimlessly.

Despite repeated attempts by the umpires and players to keep Sharma off the pitch, he did manage to drive over it on two occasions.

The match referee examined the pitch for potential damage and found it in acceptable condition for the match to proceed.

The incident highlighted a major security breach on the part of the organizers with Sharma able to get so close to the players despite having apparently been lost.

Uttar Pradesh, led by Raina, were 246 runs ahead of the Rishab Pant led Delhi when play was stopped on Friday.