Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar shared his take on the reason behind the heated confrontation between India captain Shubman Gill and England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at the end of day three of the ongoing Lord’s Test.
Shubman Gill's angry tirade against England batsmen Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley at Lord's marked the end of the third day of the third India vs. England Test. After the first innings scores for India and England were tied, tensions started to rise with ten minutes remaining in day three's play.
Crawley pulled away four times before facing the third delivery from Jasprit Bumrah. India's captain, Shubman Gill, used some foul language because he thought England was wasting time. After being struck on the glove, Crawley paused to examine his hand and dialed the physiotherapist. Gill and Ben Duckett also got into a furious confrontation.
Even while Crawley was being examined for his injury, things heated up once again as Gill gave a sardonic clap and pointed to the pavilion. A seaming away delivery from Bumrah then ended an exciting day's play.
Sunil Gavaskar, the former captain of India, claimed that the lack of English players in the IPL was the source of the hostility.
“England wants to make it the last over. The Indians thought it was may bit of gamesmanship. Maybe it was. There is a reason why this happened. That's because not a lot of England players are competing in the IPL. That's my thinking. From this England team, Joe Root did not play, and Ben Stokes did not play. What has happened with other teams is that a lot of their players are in the IPL. They have mixed with the Indian players, travelled with them.
They shared a changing room. This is what I keep saying, before the IPL, there was a lot of animosity, bordering on being brutal, between some players. That intensity is still there, like Archer bowling to Yashasvi. There is a lot of confrontation between India and England players because they don't play in the IPL,” Sunil Gavaskar said on-air after the end of day three.
The Lord’s Test stands on equal footing between England and India as both teams ended on level scores in the first innings.
(PTI inputs)
