Are cricketers safe from pitch invaders?

Gavaskar unhappy with fans breaching security during matches in India

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar was left fuming after a fan, on Saturday, broke the security cordon and entered the playing field during India's ongoing second Test against South Africa at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune.

A fan dodged the stadium security and came close to Rohit Sharma, who was standing at the slips on the third day of the match.

He touched Rohit's feet before the security staff intervened and escorted him out of the ground.

The incident infuriated cricketer-turned-commentator Gavaskar, who called for accountability from ground security staff.

"These incidents happen because security people are not watching the crowd but are watching the match. This has been the perennial problem in India," said Gavaskar, who is a part of commentary panel.

"The security is not there to watch the match for free. They are there to stop such interruptions from happening."

Gavaskar said such incidents are major security risks for players.

"I say put the camera on the security and check whether they are watching the match or the crowd."

"This is a dangerous security issue which is what you are there for, to make sure no one goes into the ground. Anyone can cause damage to a player. It has happened in the past, why take a chance," he said.

Saturday's incident is the third such security breach that happened in the ongoing South Africa's tour of India.

In the first Test at Vishakhapatnam, a fan entered the ground and shook India skipper Virat Kohli's hand and also tried to take a selfie.

Earlier during the second T20I between the two teams in Mohali, the match was interrupted twice as fans entered the field of play.