Gill gets edgy as England accuse India of hypocrisy after he took issue with their time-wasting tactics late yesterday.
Gill loses temper as England run down the clock.
In a tense last over on the third day at Lord’s, India’s captain Shubman Gill criticised their time-wasting tactics, prompting England to accuse him of hypocrisy.
When Jasprit Bumrah was running into bowl the first over of England’s second innings, which began about six minutes before the end of play, Gill, who had been lying down and getting treatment for a few minutes during India’s fielding innings on the second day, seemed to tell Zak Crawley to “grow some f***ing balls” after he twice pulled out.
After being hit on the glove two balls later, Crawley requested medical attention, which prompted a number of India fielders to approach him and give him mocking claps.
In a violent argument, Gill and Crawley blamed one other, and England’s bowling coach Tim Southee implied that Gill had no reason to be upset about wasting time.
“It’s always exciting to see both sides animated towards the end,” Southee said. “I’m not sure what they were complaining about when Shubman Gill was lying down getting a massage in the middle of the day yesterday. It’s obviously part of the game [when] you’re near the end of the day. It’s an exciting way to finish the day.”
England successfully wasted enough time to ensure that they faced a single over on the third evening, much to India’s frustration. “We wanted to bowl two overs,” KL Rahul said. “There were six minutes left. It is a no-brainer that any team will bowl two overs with six minutes to go, but it was a bit of theatrics at the end.”
“We know how difficult it is for a batter to come to bat for two overs when you’ve been in the field all day,” he said. “A wicket at the end of the day’s play would’ve been perfect for us. Tomorrow, even without that, I think we would’ve been fired up anyway.”
“What happened at the end is just part of the game now,” Rahul said. “I understand from an opening batter’s point of view. I know exactly what was going on, and everyone knows exactly what was going on. But an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes.”