Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant was front and centre in discussions with under-fire Australian batter Matthew Wade on Day 1 of the fourth Test at the Gabba.
Pant, chirpy as usual from behind the stumps, began to grate with the Aussies in the commentary box — yes, one of whom had some foul-mouthed things to say about Marnus Labuschagne when he thought the mic was off during the SCG Test.
Mark Waugh and Shane Warne wanted Pant to ‘zip it’ and allow the batsman to concentrate.
‘I don’t have a problem with the ‘keeper talking, but not when the bowler is about to bowl. You’ve got to zip it then,’ Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
‘Rishabh Pant has a smile on his face, he’s having a laugh with his team-mates around the bat. But if the bowler is starting to come in, that’s the time to just zip it and let the batsman concentrate,’ Warne added.
Pant caused a short delay in play when he continued to chatter as Washington Sundar was preparing to bowl before tea.
Wade, who has been involved in banter with Pant in the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, waited for the wicket-keeper to stop his chatter before he faced up to the off-spinner.
‘I think the umpire has got to take some control in these situations. It’s out of the players’ hands, the umpires have got to control the game out there,’ Waugh said.
‘If it starts getting too much or it’s holding up play you’ve got to get the standards right out there if you’re umpiring,’ the younger Waugh added.
It’s a bit rich for Waugh and Warne to be lofty bearers of cricketing standards — didn’t the duo reportedly accept money (external link from an Indian bookie way back in 1994-1995?
Just last month, Warne was slammed for a racial slur about Pujara.
And did Waugh and Warne have a problem when the Aussies, led by Skipper Tim Paine, sledged the Indians on day five of the SCG Test as victory slipped out of their hands?
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