Australian players found a hilarious way to give broadcasters a message to shut off stump mic between the overs. During India’s tour of South Africa, there were cuss words from Virat Kohli and a few chats between the overs which were quite clear, courtesy stump mic. MS Dhoni’s behind-the-stumps commentary became quite famous and got thousands of views for websites.
Under International Cricket Council (ICC)’s rules and regulations, the volume of stump mic needs to be reduced between the overs, but the local broadcaster Super Sport chose to ignore the guidelines.
According to reports, Aussies had requested to lower the volume of stump mics between the overs but the broadcasters turned a deaf ear to their plea. So they found a unique way to spam the stump mic with the name of their sponsors ‘Qantas and XXXX’ in an attempt to upset the broadcasters.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. In 2006, during a Test match between Australia and Bangladesh, former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist plugged in the names of the sponsors by intentionally talking loudly into the stump mics, all in a bid to protest against the broadcasters.
This incident gave rise to a hilarious press conference after the day’s play. The Aussies have not been sledging the way they used to. Marsh said in the press conference, “I wouldn’t say it was a protest. I’d say it was a great opportunity to give our sponsors a bit of a plug. Qantas, thank you for getting us here safely. The stump mics really, for us players on the field, are irrelevant. It’s about us as a team getting the ball in the right areas and we don’t really worry about that, it was a bit of a joke to give the sponsors a bit of a plug.”
Here’s the video of the conference –
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AB de Villiers too was surprised as it is not usual for Australian players refrain from sledging with a few nasty comments in between. De Villiers said, “It was quite nice today. They were very friendly compared to last time. It’s the usual stuff. we expect some verbal stuff out there when you’re playing cricket in general. It gets the juices flowing. I particularly enjoy it. And from the other side, we also get stuck in and try and unsettle the batters. It’s part of the game.”
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Here’s a look at the chatter during India’s tour of South Africa –
Sledging or no sledging, it seems like the Australians have extended their dominance over South Africa on their home soil. They managed to put on a decent score of 351 in the first innings followed by a stellar bowling performance to bundled the hosts out for 162. The visitors will be looking to take a gigantic lead and put the opposition under pressure in the fourth innings straightaway.
