Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali sees shades of Virat Kohli in Shubman Gill's aggressive on-field antics, but reckons the current Indian Test captain may have triggered a stronger response from the hosts with his sledge to Zak Crawley at Lord’s.

In the final session on Day 3, tempers flared as Gill confronted Crawley for his time-wasting tactics, asking him to be brave and bat.

Gill has shown his aggressive side time and again in this series. His century celebration at Edgbaston mirrored that of Kohli's at the same venue in 2018.

"My take is, it's fine. I think he's just trying to be competitive in front of a fight and very similar to Virat, I think it's fine," Moeen said during an interaction on Wednesday (July 13).

"But then, obviously the other team, what you've done is, I think you've actually brought out the best of England and the fight and that beast England can be.

"And I think it's a different side of England. They've shown all the players that it's great for the series to win. I don't know why it's getting criticised."

Former India cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Mohammad Kaif have suggested that Shubman Gill's approach, especially his verbal duels with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at Lord's, may have backfired.

Gill has been in sublime form with the bat this series, slamming a century at Headingley and following it up with a record-breaking ton and a double hundred in the second Test at Edgbaston, which India won by 336 runs. However, he made just 16 and 6 in the third Test at Lord's, where India lost by 22 runs despite Ravindra Jadeja’s heroics with the bat.

While Moeen praised Jadeja’s batting, he highlighted the left-arm spinner’s lack of returns with the ball.

"He just knows what he's doing. I think he's done it for many years. I think he's been amazing with the bat this series, obviously," Moeen said.

"I think with the ball, he hasn't quite got the wickets, but he does what he does. He's very tight. He can bowl, but he's not outstanding. He's been batting well for a few years now, I think.

"Especially even last time they came to England, he batted brilliantly, and I think now he's at the peak of his batting. Bowling wise, I think he just doesn't have the wickets. With the tally, I think he's bowled well, he just doesn't have the wickets."

Experts and commentators have been advocating for Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion in the XI, and Moeen echoed the sentiment, but acknowledged the difficulty in making room for the quality spinner.

"I would like to see Kuldeep in the team, but I don't know who for. Washington's bowled well, Jadeja batted well. So it makes it difficult to bring Kuldeep Yadav in the side. I would like to see Kuldeep in, but I don't think they can fit him in."

India were bowled out for 170 while chasing 193 at Lord’s, thereby conceding 1-2 lead to England in the five-match series.

Reflecting on the game, Moeen said the Three Lions were fortunate to post a lead in the third innings as batting in the fourth innings was far more challenging.

"I think, at Lord's it can happen. Because there's always something for the ball, even though the period where it looked easy for batting, there's always a few periods where... it makes it a little bit difficult.

"I think KL (Rahul) played really well on that wicket. But I think it was obviously a very close game," he said.

"I think we were lucky, it was even to the closer level. England just scored a few more runs in the third innings, which was probably easier than it was in the four innings.

"But I think the first morning at Lord's, when it was doing a bit more, I thought England got through that period nicely. And I think to be 387 in the first innings there and in that situation, I think was a lot right."

(With PTI Inputs)