Kolkata: South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince on Friday played down the stump-mic chatter involving Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, saying the visitors will have “no discussion” around the incident during the opening day’s play in the first Test at the Eden Gardens.
The exchange happened on the last ball of the 13th over in South Africa’s innings when at 62/2, a leg-before appeal from Bumrah against Proteas captain Temba Bavuma was turned down. During the conversation about whether to take the DRS, the stump mic picked up Bumrah saying, “bauna bhi hai,” a remark many interpreted as a taunt at Bavuma’s height.
Prince, however, distanced the team from any such controversy during the interaction after the opening day’s proceedings. “No, there will be no discussion. It’s the first time, obviously, it’s come to my attention. I don’t think there’ll be any issues with what’s happened out in the middle,” Prince said.
Bavuma, returning to lead the Test side after recovering from a calf strain, had a
brief and forgettable outing as he was dismissed for 3 off 11 balls by Kuldeep Yadav via a leg-slip trap.
The injury had earlier forced him to miss the start of South Africa’s World Test Championship title defence against Pakistan. The incident unfolded when Bumrah angled a good-length delivery back into Bavuma, struck him on the thigh pad and the pacer, who returned with five wickets, went with a huge appeal only for the umpire to reject.