Microphone on players: Good or Bad?

Match number 62 of the Indian Premier League – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians; Mumbai was chasing and AB De Villiers had been mic’d up; commentators were Tom Moody and Danny Morrison. Vinay Kumar ran in to bowl the 5^th ball of his 1^st over, the white ball hit the batsman’s pad down the leg side and AB caught it. Up went AB and the bowler with a big appeal. MI had just lost Tendulkar and Gibbs and being a Mumbai Indian supporter, I started quaking in my boots. But it was quite bizarre that the umpire called it a wide.

I was relieved, but still quite tensed whether the Mumbai Indians would be able to score another 170 odd runs.

ABD (who was mic’d up, jokingly): “I don’t want to get myself into trouble so I won’t say much. I knew it hit the pad”

Tom Moody (Commentator): “Hey, why did you appeal mate if you knew it hit the pad”

ABD: “Haha, I was appealing for the umpire not to put his hands up.” (Laughter in the commentary box)

That conversation for me was like having a stress relief tablet.

Even though Adam Gilchrist is considered to be the master at this, at most times I have felt that AB De Villiers is turning out to be a serious competition for him. AB has been one of the best mic’d up players on-field throughout the IPL season 5. He talks so casually that we feel he is at some after-match party. Seeing the ease at which he manages talking and playing, I have even felt that Virat Kohli, with all his frustration, would have to fake some anger just to piss him off.

It was Channel 9 in Australia that tried this idea of putting a microphone on a player for the first time in an international cricket match. It was tried during a match between Australia and England. It was tested on Gilchrist and he easily mastered it. These are the players who get to see the game from close quarters. Gilchrist behind the stumps or Hussey at covers would be able to understand the pitch more than anyone else as to how the ball is moving and bouncing on it.

ABD and Girlfriend

This works out very well only in situations where the player is ready to talk freely and the commentator has the passion to churn out some hot titbits and strategies. In fact, many such conversations have turned out to be informative as well. I otherwise would not have known about AB De Villiers’ charity work and moreover, about his girlfriend, unlike some commentators during the IPL, who would just ask ‘what is your side dish for tonight’s Vada Pav?’

A strong criticism that is faced against such conversations is that it could distract the player. Firstly, no player is forced to chat with the commentators. In most cases, the producer would have a protocol to follow as to how and when to approach a player. It would then be discussed with the commentators and would be handed over only then.

Indeed, it is all about professionalism. If Steven Smith during a highly electrified T20 match against England, who was fielding at long on and talking to the commentators simultaneously, could chase a hard hit ball till deep mid-wicket, dive and throw it back to the bowler in a jiffy, any other player in international cricket should at least be able to try it. In fact, the ideal format in which it can be implemented is definitely T20. This is not the format where Rohit Sharma’s class is measured.

If concentration can possess problems, then it could mostly be the case for the captain and the bowler. Still there were instances where bowlers were mic’d up during the match. An ideal example was Andrew Symonds’ over against Jacob Oram in an Australia vs New Zealand T20 match. Symonds even mentioned to the commentators that it would be a length ball and got hit for four through the off. The next ball he said it would be back of a length and got hit into the 5^th row of the 2^nd stand. Even though that over conceded 19 runs, it was a wonderful gesture from Symonds.

Another argument that my friend raised was that a player could swear directly into the microphone as a result of a dropped catch or a missed stumping chance. The same microphone system is used in the American National Football League. In NFL, it is rather used to capture the on-field badinage between the players. It is understandable if a player swears as a reflexive reaction during an ultra-swift game. In a much a slower paced game like cricket, the chances for the same are much lower.

I, as an IPL lover, am definitely enjoying this. I would love to see this in various different methods like mic-ing more than just one fielder. How interesting it would be if we could hear McCullum, Lee and Gambhir discussing their strategies. Wouldn’t it more entertaining if the wicket-keeper did the ball-to-ball commentary for an over or two? In fact, for some reason or the other, Indian players who get mic’d up do not interact for a long time. I would also love to see more and more Indian players talking for a longer period of time.