New India Test captain Shubman Gill continues to receive flak on his aggressive approach, which was shown during the third Test against England at Lord’s, where things got heated between him and English opener Zak Crawley. On the evening of Day 3, tempers rose when Crawley tried to run down the clock. Shubman Gill, usually a calm one on the field, was seen furious at Crawley’s tactics and had a heated exchange with him.
Minutes before stumps on Day 3 at Lord’s, things reached an escalating point as India captain Shubman Gill hurled a mouthful after Crawley repeatedly backed away during Jasprit Bumrah’s over to ensure India don’t get another crack from the other end before the close of play. It took Shubman Gill just two minutes to drag England down from the moral high horse they have clambered on since the third evening of the Lord’s Test.
The narrative from an obliging English media has revolved around how India’s ploy to confront a deliberately tardy Zak Crawley towards the closing stages of Saturday’s play in the third Test backfired spectacularly on them. While it can’t be denied that that faceoff seemed to adversely impact Shubman Gill, the chief protagonist, when he came out to bat in the last half-hour the following day, to ascribe India’s 22-run loss to their ‘confrontational’ approach is taking things too far, even by English standards.
Shubman Gill tears into Zak Crawley for late evening drama at Lord’s on Day 3
The third day of the Lord’s Test ended in chaos and sarcasm as England opener Zak Crawley used every second possible to avoid facing a second over before stumps. But what truly lit up the post-match narrative was Tim Southee’s subtle jab at Indian skipper Shubman Gill — for complaining about time-wasting while having done something similar a day earlier.
With scores level at 387 apiece and six minutes left on the clock, India hoped to bowl two overs at the England openers before stumps. But Zak Crawley took his time — adjusting to sight screen issues and then claiming discomfort after a ball struck his glove, despite no visible damage. Jasprit Bumrah responded with sarcastic clapping, and Shubman Gill, fired up and vocal, could be heard telling Crawley to “be brave and bat.”
India captain Shubman Gill tore into England opener Zak Crawley in late drama at Lord’s on July 12. Zak Crawley, batting in England’s 2nd innings, tried to delay the proceedings in the final minutes of Day 3 at Lord’s. The India captain, Shubman, who wanted his pacers to bowl 2 overs in the low evening light noted Crawley’s delay tactics. Angry and unsatisfied, Shubman Gill, walked up to the England opener and chimed in: grow some balls!
The unsavoury dig was made after Crawley continually tried to walk away when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling India’s first over of the 2nd innings. Two overs were scheduled to be played in England’s final innings on Day 3, but Crawley’s delay tactics meant that India could only bowl one over against England in the final moments of the game.
After walking away for a couple of balls, Crawley called in for the physio after getting hit on the gloves by Bumrah’s 5th ball of the over. The furious Indian team walked straight up to Crawley’s face and had several words to say.The crowd joined in on the drama and jeered the players at the end of yet another slow-moving day at Lord’s.
Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul were two of the prominent players to hurl expletives at the English batters after they flirted with some dark arts to go unscathed on Day 4 of the 3rd Test match. The events led to a heated altercation between England openers Crawley and Ben Duckett as the entire team surrounded the two men in the middle.
Where England went wrong on Day 3 at Lord’s
England had between six and seven minutes of batting at the start of their second innings on day three, enough time for two overs even if the first took five minutes. But Crawley and Ben Duckett, clear that they would only bat one over, walked in fashionably late, 90 seconds beyond the 10 changeover minutes even as umpires Reiffel, who had a shocking Test, and Saikat chose to remain mute spectators.
The role of the officials in this episode has hardly been debated; it can’t be denied that they didn’t deem it fit to step in despite England’s obvious delaying tactics, some of it understandable, much of it out of line.
With Jasprit Bumrah chomping at the bit and India’s close-in cordon fired up at the prospect of 12 no-win deliveries at Crawley and Duckett, the former took his time, pulling out as Bumrah steamed in to bowl the second ball, then calling for the physio after being struck on the glove off the fifth ball.
That’s when Shubman Gill lost his shirt, exhorting the out-of-form Crawley to grow some ‘balls’, with an expletive thrown in. England claim that lifted them as a team – hello, shouldn’t Test cricket be reason enough to lift themselves – and contributed to the storytelling by tom-toming about India losing because of that incident. In a lengthy pre match press conference , Indian skipper Shubman Gill put a solid full stop questioning England’s spirit of the game in the situation.
Shubman Gill narrated the entire episode during the pre-match press conference on the eve of the Manchester Test against England. He said the host’s opening batters were 90 seconds late to the crease and also kept wasting time. The 25-year-old questioned England’s ‘spirit of the game’, saying things were not done in the right fashion, and hence, he lost his cool.
Shubman GIll questions whether England’s conduct on the third evening at Lord’s was against the spirit of the game
On Tuesday, as Shubman Gill wound down a lengthy press conference that he handled with characteristic poise – his outburst at Lord’s, it must be assumed for now, was a one-off – he was asked by an English journalist if he regretted employing ‘confrontational tactics’.
As if he had been waiting for it, Shubman Gill sent the question out of the park, like he would a juicy full toss.
“Let me just clear the air once and for all,” India’s captain Shubman Gill replied, in complete command of the situation.
“The English batsmen on that day, they had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20 — 90 seconds late.
“Yes, most of the teams, they use this (delaying tactics). Even if we were in that position, we would have also liked to play lesser overs,” he conceded
“But there is a manner to do it. If you get hit on your body, the physios are allowed to come on. That is fair. But to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game. Just leading up to that event, a lot of things that we thought should not have happened, it had happened.”
In anticipation of his agression on the field using verbal language Shubman Gill explained,
“I wouldn’t say it (the verbals) was something I am very proud of. But there was a lead-up and build-up to that. It didn’t just come out of nowhere. We had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But you are playing a game, you are playing to win and there are a lot of emotions involved. When you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere.” he concluded .
For India, winning the fourth Test is a must if they want to win the series. This is Shubman Gill’s first series as India captain. He took over the reigns of the team after Rohit Sharma retired as Test captain. India and England will square off in the Manchester Test from July 23.
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