What's a Test match without a few banters?!
India begins its World Test Championship 2025-2027 with a series on English soil, a rivalry that is 93 years old across formats such as Test, One-Day, and T20. Over the year, the two sides have played countless matches against each other, giving birth to numerous heated exchanges but also some funny banter and comments that have been caught behind the stump mic.
As the two sides prepare to face off in another elegant Test bout, let us recall some of the hilarious stump pic moments from recent years between India and England.
In 2024, during the fifth Test match in Dharamsala, the then-Indian captain Rohit Sharma made a witty comment against Jonny Bairstow. Kuldeep Yadav was given the over to bowl at Bairstow, but before the over started, Yadav wanted to discuss the bowling tactics with Sharma. To this, Sharma replied, "Isko Toh Kuch Bhi Daal (Bowl whatever you want to him)."
The stump mic caught another light-hearted and witty comment by Rohit Sharma. Last year, during the fourth Test against England in Ranchi, a delivery by Ravindra Jadeja hit Ben Stokes' pads, which had missed the line. The umpire did not give an out as Jadeja appealed, and therefore, all the players surrounded Captain Sharma to discuss the issue. However, as the DRS clock was ticking fast, Sharma shouted, "10 second hai, dimaag lagao barabar (We have 10 seconds, use your brains properly)."
Another match, another hilarious statement from Sharma, which quickly became meme material. During the Vizag Test against England in 2024, Rohit Sharma was unhappy with the players displaying lethargy on the field. Therefore, he shouted, "Koi bhi garden mein nahi ghoomega." Although he didn't deliver this statement in a light-hearted tone, it quickly became meme material.
Later, Rohit explained why he made the statement, stating, "It was in Vizag, I saw the over ended and the players were leisurely walking as if they were in a garden. No one was running, there was no urgency in the field. I saw it for two-three overs and then said things can't go on like this, you can't play cricket like this. Everyone was just going with the flow which annoyed me and then I told everyone not to be like that."
Given Rohit Sharma was the captain, all the stump mic moments from recent matches belong to him. After all, he does the talking when he is on the field. In the third Test against England in 2024, over-rate penalties were looming over the Indian side. Therefore, when Rohit Sharma spotted the ball being passed slowly, he shouted at Md Siraj, saying, "Jaldi toh mangao ball yaar, ham log 3 over peeche hain. Ye jaldi all out ho gaye na toh ham log ka vo lagega (Get the ball quickly; we are three overs behind. If these guys get all out now, we will be struck with over-rate penalties)."
Rohit did not mention the word 'penalty', but Virat Kohli, in one of his interviews, mentioned that Sharma never gives a specific order. He says 'woh' (that) or 'yeh' (this), so it's your job to decode his statement.
