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.
All eyes will be on Shubman Gill when India get down to action against England in Manchester on Wednesday for the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. After losing the first Test in Leeds, India made a great comeback at Birmingham with captain Shubman Gill returning with a double ton and a century. Then in the third Test at Lord’s, India lost by 22 runs but what hogged the limelight was Shubman Gill’s animated reaction when Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were dilly-dallying the Play on Day 3.
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.
India further went to draw level the series 2-2 with Shubman Gill scoring 754 runs at an average of 75.40 on his first overseas tour as skipper for India. Citing this on field altercations on various issues on cricket fields, Former English cricketer David Lloyd suggests cricket adopt football-style yellow and red cards for discipline.
David Llyod calls for a red card introduction citing Shubman Gill- Zak Crawley altercation during English series 2025
Former England cricketer David Lloyd wants cricket to bring in a card system like football, with a yellow card for warning and a red to pull the players out of the game entirely. David Lloyd said he has been a proponent of such a rule for a long time, but the cricket administrators have been against it, proposing instead ‘working with the players’ throughout the course of the match and being on the ‘same wavelength’ as them.
The discussion on the Stick To Cricket podcast was extended in light of the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which saw several heated moments across the five Tests. There was Mohammed Siraj shoulder-barging Ben Duckett, England being over-aggressive against the Indian players, and the visitors replying with the same, with Shubman Gill’s explosive outburst against Zak Crawley in the Lord’s Test being the most controversial.
“I was always on about yellow cards, red cards,” Lloyd said on the podcast.
“Give them a yellow card. Give them a red card. Get them off. And they said, ‘No, you’ve got to try and get on the same wavelength over five days or a four-day game, whatever it is, and try to work with the players.”
In reply, Michael Vaughan asked him how would the rules apply with real-match examples.
“So let’s go back to Lord’s, right? So your yellow card, red card. So Mohammed Siraj gets a 15% fine, doesn’t he, for his little barge? He did, he barged Duckett. Duckett, little Duckett barged on him, didn’t he? So in your system, that’ll be yellow,” Vaughan said.
Yellow cards would warn players about their bad behavior for the first time. Red cards would force players to leave the cricket match immediately. This traffic-light system works well in football and other sports already.
“Just a yellow card. And everybody on the ground and watching on TV and radio knows exactly what’s happened. He’s on notice. If he steps out of line again, he’s off the field for the game…” Lloyd said.
For the Gill-Crawley incident, where there was finger-pointing from India before Ben Duckett swooped in to go chest-to-chest with the visiting skipper, Lloyd said he’d give both yellow cards.
Then, asked, what would amount as a straight red — no warning, out from the game straightaway — and Lloyd said:
“Straight red for body contact… or foul, abusive language, audible. It’s dead simple.”
Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan support this new idea for cricket. They discussed it on their “Stick to Cricket” podcast show recently. The hard fought series ended in the 2-2 draw .
Also Read: ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball