Shubman Gill sticks his ground on 3rd Test controversy: It didn't come out of nowhere

India Today

3 days ago

India captain Shubman Gill stood his ground on his reaction to the Lord's Test controversy, in which he had a run-in with the England openers on Day 3 of the match. Gill was unhappy with the time-wasting antics from Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, as he had some choice words for both men during the final over of Day 3. Gill was even seen sarcastically throwing the X sign to say Crawley was hurt badly as the England opener called for the physio. advertisementSince then, Gill's reaction and aggression has been dissected by fans and pundits, with the likes of Sanjay Manjrekar and Manoj Tiwary feeling that the Indian captain went overboard. However, on the eve of the Manchester Test, Gill decided to clear the air once and for all. The Indian captain said that the England batters were 90 seconds late to the crease when there was only seven minutes of play left. Gill admitted that most of the teams do try to waste time to ensure they face less number of overs but felt that the actions from the England team weren't adhering to the spirit of the game.
"Yes, a lot of people have been talking about it, so let me just clear the air once and for all. The English batters on that day, they had 7 minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease, not 10, not 20, 90 seconds late. Yes, most of the teams, they use this, even if we were in a position, we would have also liked to play lesser overs, but there's a manner to do it." "And we felt, yes, if you get hit on your body, the physios are allowed to come on, and that is something that is fair. But to be able to come 90 seconds later on the crease is not, that is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game," said Gill. 'A lot of things that shouldn't have happened, had happened'Gill said that it wasn't something that happened out of nowhere and a lot of things that shouldn't have happened occurred during the match. The Indian captain said he wasn't proud of what happened, but claimed that there was a lead-up and build-up and the reaction didn't come out of the blue."And just leading up to that event. A lot of things that we thought should not have happened had happened. I wouldn't say it was something that I'm very proud of, but, there was a lead-up and build-up to that. It didn't just come out of nowhere and we had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But you're playing a game, you're playing to win, and there are a lot of emotions involved, and when you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere," said Gill. India and England will lock horns once again in the Manchester Test from July 23. - EndsTune InMust Watch