Ranji Trophy | 'These things happen': Paras Dogra plays down ugly headbutt scene

Hubballi: The Ranji Trophy final between Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium here descended into chaos for about a quarter of an hour, eating into a few overs of a truncated day when only 69 overs could be bowled due to bad light. 

Paras Dogra was involved in a verbal spat with Karnataka’s KV Aneesh and the chatter turned ugly when the J&K skipper intentionally headbutted the substitute fielder who was manning the silly point. 

Dogra, however, played down the incident saying it was in the “heat of the moment” and maintained there were no ill-feelings between the two sides. 

“These things keep going on. When you are playing a final, these things happen. It happened in the heat of the moment. It is all okay with both teams now,” Dogra said after the end of the second day’s play. 

“What happened today, ended right there. We then started talking, so no issues. It is all sorted now. What happens on the field, stays there,” he added.

Following Dogra's physical contact, former Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal stepped in support of young Aneesh and exchanged a few heated words with Dogra. 

Karnataka skipper Devdutt Padikkal was also seen talking to on-field umpires Rohan Pandit and Ulhas Gandhe after they intervened to calm down the situation. 

The incident took place in the 101st over of the innings when Karnataka were desperately searching for wickets while J&K were consolidating to a position of strength. 

Since the altercation involved physical contact of two players, Dogra could invite sanctions from match referee Narayan Kutty. 

However, it will be assessed on the seriousness of the breach of the Code of Conduct, taking into account the context of the situation, the force of contact and deliberation of the contact. 

The official announcement, however, is expected to come after the final. 

In another incident, J&K wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Karnataka pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar appeared to have shouldered each other. 

"Sledging was involved, it was from both the teams. We sledged and they did the same. It was nothing intentional. Things are good now and it was sorted in the middle itself," Kanhaiya said.