Former Indian cricketer and KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir is currently working as a commentator for the UAE leg of IPL 2021. He recently opened up about a couple of interesting anecdotes he heard through a stump microphone during the RCB-MI clash.

Gautam Gambhir revealed that during a game between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he heard a young Indian bowler’s ideas on how to shine the ball during the match.

RCB v DC: Dressing Room Chat

A last ball thriller courtesy KS Bharath, and a happy dressing room. The team was all smiles after last night’s win against table toppers DC.#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/NhblCIHWmy

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) October 9, 2021

In his column for the Times of India, Gautam Gambhir disclosed a couple of anecdotes he heard through a stump mic and wrote:

“The other day during a drinks break, I heard a foreign import sharing his thoughts on an Instagram video, featuring Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. I hadn’t seen it but got to know that it was a dubbed video with Shikhar and Prithvi breaking into their version of dance moves.”

He further continued:

A few days before that, during a Mumbai Indians vs RCB game, I heard some absolute ‘genius’ thoughts by a young Indian bowler on how to shine a cricket ball! To me, it sounded like an analysis paralysis but the young man was in full motion. I wasn’t surprised when the only response he got from teammates was,

“Yaar, achchi length pe ball daal, shine ka tension mat le (Mate, just bowl a good length and don’t worry much about the shine).”

Gautam Gambhir did not disclose the name of the bowler, but he was clearly not very impressed with the ideas put forward by the player. RCB won that contest by 54 runs.

Broadcasting is an interesting space, it gives you a different yet intimate seat in the house: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir then proceeded to explain how being in broadcasting is a fascinating and interesting experience. The two-time IPL winning captain recalled that the stump microphone conversations helped in understanding the thought process of the players in the middle in a better way. And with this, Gambhir wrote:

“Broadcasting is an interesting space. It gives you a different yet intimate seat in the house. The COVID outbreak has restricted the ground access for a few of us but then we are privy to a few other aspects which can be insightful and fascinating. One such source is the stump microphone audio which we the broadcasters have access to.”

He continued:

“Sometimes the conversations that we hear, tell us how a player or a group is thinking. It helps if the captain is expressive in nature. I won’t say that I think like a Kerry Packer but I can safely say that some of the nuggets that come through stump microphones are pure gold. Or as a sports producer would say, ‘Great content.'”