Rohit Sharma opened up on one of his most hilarious stump-mic moments involving umpire Virender Sharma.
There are fewer love stories greater in world cricket at the moment than Rohit Sharma and the stump mic. The India captain has developed a penchant towards dishing out gold, which more often than not, is recorded by the stump mic. In fact, since taking over as India’s full-time captain across formats, Rohit has dished out more stump-mic gems than the number of sixes he has hit. Yeah, it’s become that big a rage. Rohit’s range on the stump mic was on full display during the World Cup, in South Africa, against Afghanistan and now in the Test series against England.
More Rohit Sharma gems await in the 5th Test at Dharamsala. (AFP)
It’s no surprise that Rohit’s one-liners captured on the stump mic are hilarious given how funny the man himself is. Hence, choosing one epic over another is as tough as a bowler trying to stop him from playing the pull shot. But if the mind is to hark back and pick one stump-mic incident that beats the others, it was the one that took place during the third T20I between India and Afghanistan in Bengaluru on January 17.
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Rohit was coming off consecutive ducks in the previous two T20Is, so when Rohit took strike on just the second ball of the innings, the India captain clipped it off his pads for a four to avoid a hat-trick of zeros. However, to Rohit’s shock, the runs only got added to India’s total and not his as umpire Virender Sharma signalled leg-byes. Rohit, unaware of the decision, did not notice it until an over later, and that’s when he expressed his displeasure to the official.
“Arey viru, thigh-pad diya kya pehla four? Bat laga tha! (Hey Viru, did you signal for the thigh pad on the first four? I hit that with my bat!)” he said, leaving everyone in splits.
Now, less than two months later, Rohit opened up on the incident saying the reaction stemmed from the fact that he had gotten out for two ducks in back-to-back games – a golden duck in Mohali and a two-ball duck in Indore. Hence, despite the final game being a dead rubber, getting off the mark at the Chinnaswamy was important for the India captain.
“When you’re coming off two zeros, we know how important scoring the first run is. I scored a four off the bat but the umpire probably didn’t notice it and signalled them as leg byes. I usually don’t look at the scoreboard much while batting. My mind is on batting, but when the over was completed, my eyes went up there and I saw that Rohit Sharma still on 0. I was like ‘I just scored a four. How is it still zero?’ So, I asked him ‘Viru, did you give it off the thigh pad?’,” Rohit said during an event in Bilaspur ahead of the 5th India vs England Test in Dharamsala starting Thursday.
Does Rohit Sharma plan his one-liners?
Rohit’s one-liners have become fodder for memers all over India. And truth be told why not? Rohit and his statements are no less than box office material. Be it the ones recorded on the mic or during press conferences, Rohit is always in overdrive when it comes to being spontaneous. On being asked if Rohit has a favourite among the lot, the India captain denied it saying he doesn’t plan such things
“See, I don’t have any favourite line as such and I don’t even do it deliberately. Now I am the captain so I stand in the slips, because the angle from there helps me get a better look at the fielders and take stock of DRS. So I keep talking to the fielders and it gets recorded,” he said.
