England Star Breaks Silence On Confrontation With India Captain Shubman Gill

NDTV

16 hours ago

The Lord's Test confrontation between India's Shubman Gill and England's Zak Crawley remains one of the most-talked-about topics in the series. Many felt that it was this moment which prompted England to shun their 'nice guys' attitude and step up against a testing Indian side. While the content of the verbal battle between Gill and Crawley wasn't revealed, the England star has finally opened up on the heated confrontation, saying he enjoyed those '8 minutes' of the duel with the India captain.
During the day third of the Lord's Test, which India lost by 22 runs, an extremely heated argument took place between skipper Gill and England openers, with the Indian skipper alleging that they had wasted time while arriving and after arriving at the crease, to face as less balls as possible, with day's play coming to close. During this whole confrontation, the whole team had surrounded the batters, trying to get under the skin of the batters in every way possible.
While many accused Gill of stepping over the line with his gestures that day, Crawley doesn't think anything was outside the 'spirit of the game'.
Speaking at the post-day press conference, Crawley told the media, "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. 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."
The England openers Crawley and Ben Duckett came out to bat 90 seconds late on the field during Day 3 of the Lord's Test.
Clarifying that they didn't did it intentionally, the right-hand batter said, "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."