During India's tour of Australia that begin last year, the stump microphones were often turned up for television viewers to hear the chatter around the batsman. Rishabh Pant proved to be quite the chatty catty though many of his comments seemed pre-prepared and downright silly.
But now another Indian wicket-keeper has been heard on the stump mic trying to put the batsman off his game. This was Ishan Kishan during the ongoing Duleep Trophy final. Kishan is playing for the India Red team and on day one was standing up to the wickets when his friend Mayank Markande of India Green was batting against spinners.
The stump microphone caught the wicketkeeper from Bihar giving instructions to his fielders that were indirectly aimed at the batsman. These sledging comments were quite funny and even drew a response from the commentators.
Stump mic gem: Markande escapes Ishan Kishan’s trap
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 5, 2019
What happens when two friends are in opposite teams? Ishan Kishan throws the bait but Mayank Markande keeps his calm. A must watch.
Full video here ??https://t.co/7aMTgn14cq #DuleepTrophy
In Hindi, Kishen was heard asking the fielders to come forward as the batsman won't be able to hit the ball hard enough to reach them if they are too deep. The idea was to provoke an angry response from Markande and get him to hit a big shot.
Later, Kishan also said that "Brother is not in the mood to play." Markande, on his part, realised the game and seemed completely unaffected by the words of his mate. He played solid defensive shots in that over before getting a thick inside-edge that went into the leg side and got him off strike.
Markande went on to bat solidly and score an unbeaten 76. His was the highest score in the innings and helped his side reach a total of 231 after having been 112/8.
