The Indian skipper had confronted Zak Crawley for his time-wasting tactics at Lord's.
Shubman Gill's aggressive demeanour was one of the major talking points during the third India versus England Test at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The Indian skipper confronted Zak Crawley towards the end of the third day’s play as he felt that the English opener was causing delays time to avoid facing more overs.
What caught everyone by surprise was the fact that Gill, known for his calm and composed nature, went at Crawley with hard expletives and obscene gestures.
On the eve of the fourth Test in Manchester, Shubman Gill addressed the time-wasting controversy, stating that arriving 90 seconds late to the crease was not within the spirit of the game.
On Wednesday (July 24), Zak Crawley reacted to Gill’s claim by saying that he was unaware of being “90 seconds late”.
“No, no. Not at all. I sit in my spot (in the dressing room) until the umpires go out. I saw the umpires go, and I walked out. I wasn’t aware that we were 90 seconds late, but fair enough," Crawley said after the end of second day’s play in Manchester.
Crawley, however, admitted that he enjoyed the heated exchange with the Indian players. “I’ve always enjoyed that part of cricket, to be honest, especially when you’re batting. There’s two of you against eleven and they’re desperate to get you out, and they’re chirping you," the lanky right-hander said.
“Most of the time, I’d probably let it slide, and then other times, I feel like it’s a good chance to put it back on them. I loved that little eight-minute passage. No-one stepped over the line. I thought everyone was in good spirits. It was just competitive cricket, and I really enjoyed it," he added.
In reply to India’s first innings score of 358 at Old Trafford, Ben Duckett (94 off 100) and Zak Crawley (84 off 113) took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners, adding 166 runs for the opening wicket in just 195 balls. Their whirlwind display propelled England to 225/2 at stumps on Day 2.
“I have high standards for myself, and I work very hard in my game. I always want more for myself, and I’ve certainly wanted more for myself than I’ve got in the last year or so. That’s just an internal thing. I don’t feel that pressure from anyone else," Crawley told reporters.
“I just feel like I owe it to myself to have a few more good performances. Days like today make the practice and the tougher times worth it a bit more. Obviously, I wanted more runs today, but I feel like I’ve worked hard and earned those runs," he remarked.
Crawley was effusive in praise of Duckett who missed out on a century by six runs. “He’s a phenomenal player and he takes a lot of pressure off me. He scores at a run-a-ball effortlessly, and it allows you to go about your business. We talk a lot in the middle about how we want to go about it, and obviously our height difference – and being left-right-hand – probably makes it quite hard for the bowlers at times, when we’re both going well at either end," Crawley said.