Former Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More has said that he wished there were microphones during his playing days -- and particularly during the 1989 series between India and Pakistan. More talked about the sledging that took place during the series and also mentioned a particular incident involving him and Pakistan player Salim Malik.
India-Pakistan matches are considered one of the biggest spectacles in world cricket. The rivalry between the two countries leads to packed stands and it often spills over onto the field.
"Whenever an India-Pakistan series takes place, sledging happens," he said on The Greatest Rivalry podcast.
"In Pakistan when we went in 1989, I sledged Salim Malik in the Karachi Test and he came to hit me with the bat. I said to him a very nasty word in Punjabi because we speak the common language.
"Actually, it's so much fun and I wish that there were microphones all around the ground because it will be hilarious for everyone."
He also recalled a memory from Javed Miandad's 100th Test in Lahore.
"Javed was playing his 100th Test match at Lahore. He came out to bat and Maninder Singh was bowling. Third or fourth over he was plumb leg before. It was a beautiful arm ball from Maninder and the ball rapped him below the knee roll. He said to me ‘why are you appealing. This is my 100th Test match, I am going to score a century and go home'," he recounted.
Earlier, More had also said that ball-tampering was rampant in the 1989 series between the two sides.
"In those days, scratching the ball was allowed, so you used to get reverse swing, big time," More had said on the same podcast.
"It was like, nobody used to complain from both sides. Everybody used to scratch the ball and reverse swing the ball. It was difficult to bat, it was not easy to bat. Even Manoj Prabhakar learned on that team how to scratch that ball and reverse swing that ball and Pakistan found it challenging."
