[Watch] Shaun Pollock offers his microphone after Rohit Sharma's mic malfunctions in post-match interview of IND-IRE 2024 T20 World Cup clash
Former South African captain Shaun Pollock won hearts with a heartwarming gesture after Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's microphone malfunctioned during the post-match presentation of the India-Ireland 2024 T20 World Cup clash. As Rohit was responding to one of Pollock's questions about the game, there was a breakdown in his microphone, leading to his voice not being heard.
Pollock asked Rohit:
"In the T20 format, you sometimes have to adjust your plan and show certain variations. What was your plan out there once you saw what the pitch was doing… try to stick and hit the hard lengths?"
Rohit was responding to the same when Pollock chimed in and said:
"I think your mic might be gone. I'll hold it for you."
Pollock then quickly offered his microphone and held it for Rohit to complete his answer.
Here is a video of the incident and Shaun Pollock's wonderful gesture:
Coming to the game, Team India asked Ireland to bat first and took complete advantage of another bowler-friendly New York wicket.
They bowled Ireland out for a paltry 96 in 16 overs and completed the run-chase in the 13th over with the loss of only two wickets. Rohit Sharma led from the front, scoring a defiant 52 off 37 deliveries to propel India to a comfortable victory to begin their T20 World Cup campaign.
"Don't think we can play four spinners here" - Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma cheekily admitted that playing four spinners may not be plausible on the New York wicket heavily skewed towards the pacers. The Indian pacers picked up nine out of the ten Irish wickets, with the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel bowling only a combined two overs.
At the post-match presentation, Rohit said about the New York pitch:
"Don't think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on. Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are allrounders. I don't know what to expect from the pitch to be honest."
The India-Ireland contest was the second in the New York track after South Africa and Sri Lanka played on it earlier this week. However, run-scoring has been extremely challenging for most of the batters, thanks to massive seam movement, uneven bounce, and a slow outfield.
The pitch has come under severe criticism from experts and fans, with the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan encounter slated to be played at the same venue on Sunday, June 9.