Watch: India’s substitute fielders engaged in a novel celebration to mark the fall of Kyle Verreynne’s wicket, taking part in a synchronised clap at the insistence of captain Virat Kohli.

The wicketkeeper’s dismissal came during a resurgent passage of play for the tourists. The Proteas had looked likely to bat through the second session of day two with just one wicket lost, but Mohammed Shami took two wickets in three balls before Jasprit Bumrah bowled Marco Jansen with the last ball before tea. Having been 159-4, the hosts found themselves 176-7, facing an uphill battle to reach parity with India’s first-innings 223.

Temba Bavuma was the first of the three wickets to fall, Kohli diving low to his left to cling on to a sharp chance for his 100th catch in Test cricket. Two balls later, Verreynne edged through to the keeper, and Kohli sensed a chance to build some atmosphere. He turned towards the dugout and said “Keep clapping boys”, and his players obliged, with most managing to keep to the rhythm of two slow claps and three quick claps.

This synchronised clapping method has been seen before, used by Sauraushtra in the 2018/19 Ranji Trophy. Termed ‘the punch’, it was an attempt to drum up some atmosphere when there were few fans in attendance.

“It started a couple of years back,” Jaydev Unadkat told ESPNcricinfo. “In a Ranji Trophy game, there aren’t that many spectators in all the games. So you need to create that atmosphere where you feel good about yourself and you back your bowlers really well. I think it’s something that gets us in our zone, which is really good. For a team to have a routine and get into that zone is something I love personally as well. If I’m bowling, and they start clapping and that atmosphere comes up, I really get that punch. And it’s the same with everyone.

“It works here because there is less crowd and you need some kind of momentum on your side. But you won’t need it if you are playing for India.”

It’s perhaps understandable that Unadkat didn’t reckon with a pandemic that would keep crowds away from the stands.

There is a bittersweet angle to the clapping too. It was started at Saurashtra by opening batter Avi Barot, who died at the age of 29 from a cardiac arrest in October 2021. As ESPNcricinfo’s Sourabh Somani pointed out, “He would have probably felt a quiet thrill that this was being done in a Test match by India.”

Watch the novel synchronised clapping below:

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