AUS vs IND: Flashback 2018-19 – 3 hilarious stump mic comments that went viral
On-field banter is a part and parcel of modern-day cricket. No matter how much cricketers might bond off the field, while playing a match, pitted against each other in an intense situation, no one lets go off an opportunity to take a jibe at their opponent. The previous tour of India to Australia had a lot of these verbal exchanges reaching out to the television sets of the viewers who thoroughly enjoyed it. Here’s a look at three such verbal exchanges that went viral on the internet.
1. Nathan Lyon and Cheteshwar Pujara – ‘Aren’t you bored yet?’
The new ‘Wall’ of Indian cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara is known to play marathon innings where he will bat for overs at a stretch and sometimes even bat through an entire day of a game. A handful of long innings were played by Pujara on India’s tour to Australia last time around too. He faced over 1200 balls in the 4 matches that he batted in and scored 521 runs. Watching Pujara bat for so long, scoring his third century of the tour, Nathan Lyon, could not stop the ‘Player of the Series’ from asking the famous question, ‘Aren’t you bored yet? (of batting)’, during one of his innings, to which Pujara replied with a gentle smile and continued batting on. Even the commentators covering that moment could not hold themselves back after listening to this comment and broke into laughter.
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2. Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant – ‘You babysit?’
During that Test series the keepers of both the teams, Rishabh Pant from India and Tim Paine from Australia, who also happened to be leading the team, could not get over pulling each other’s legs. Some of these conversations were caught on the mic, and they were nothing short of being absolutely hilarious. During one such exchange, while Pant was batting, Paine asked Pant whether he would babysit for him.
It did not end there, Paine went to offer Pant a spot in his Big Bash League franchise the Hobart Hurricanes, given that he would not play in the ODIs because MS Dhoni was in the team, and would be interested in having an extended holiday in the country. These comments took the internet by storm. Later during the tour, Pant did take a picture with Tim Paine’s kids and his wife Bonnie, who posted the same on her Instagram story with the caption, ‘Best Babysitter?’
3. Tim Paine and Rohit Sharma – ‘If Rohit hits a six here, I’m changing to Mumbai’
Tim Paine was at his verbal best during the series and even Rohit Sharma was not spared by him. While Rohit was on the crease during one of the matches, Paine in a satirical exchange with a close-by fielder Aaron Finch, said that he could not choose between the Mumbai Indians, led by Rohit Sharma, and the Rajasthan Royals. He went on to make the viral comment that if Rohit would hit a six on the next ball, he would start supporting the Mumbai Indians. This comment did not affect Rohit much, who continued to bat on. But a rebuttal came from Rohit soon, when he said, ‘If he (Paine) gets a hundred here, I will put in a word about him to my boss at Mumbai Indians and we’ll buy him. Looks like he’s a fan of Mumbai.’
