India captain Shubman Gill has taken aim at England’s tactics during the third Test at Lord’s, saying the home team wasted time on purpose towards the end of Day 3 and went against the spirit of cricket. Speaking ahead of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Gill clarified that England’s openers took 90 seconds longer than they should have to arrive at the crease and he believes this goes against the spirit of the game.
The match was tense and went down to the wire. After India matched England’s first-innings score of 387, they had about six minutes left in the day and hoped to get in two overs. But the English openers delayed walking out, which led to an argument between Gill, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
The incident quickly became a talking point. Many felt England were trying to run down the clock, which is a usual tactic in Test cricket. Now, Shubman Gill has put forward India’s side of the story.
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Shubman Gill Criticises England’s Time-Wasting Tactics, Calls It Against Spirit of the Game
At the pre-match press conference, Gill said the delay was not just a minor incident, but something that reflected poorly on the opposition’s intent.
"Yes, a lot of people have been talking about it, so let me just clear the air, for once and for all, the English batsmen on that day, they had seven minutes of play left, they were 90 seconds late to come to the crease, not 10, not 20, 90 seconds late," Gill said as quoted in the pre-match press conference.
He acknowledged that teams often look to minimise overs late in the day, but pointed out that there’s a fair way to do it.
"Yes, most of the teams they use this (delaying tactic), even if we were in a position, we would have also liked to play lesser overs, but there is 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 late on the crease, is not something that I would think, comes in the way of spirit of the game," he added.
Gill spoke about a pattern of events building up to the confrontation that followed.
"Just leading up to that event, a lot of things that, we thought should not have happened, it had happened, and it’s not, I wouldn’t say it was something that I am 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 it is just, you are playing a game, you are 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," Gill stated.
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Ben Stokes Says England Won’t Back Down If Things Heat Up in Manchester Test
England captain Ben Stokes also spoke about the incident and made it clear that his side would not hesitate to respond if things get heated in the upcoming Test.
He added that England would not provoke anything, but also would not shy away from confrontation if needed.
"I don't think it's one of those things where we're going to necessarily just go out and start at (sledging). I don't think either team's really looked to do that. I think there's always going to be a moment in a Test series where something does heat up. It's a massive series and there's a lot of pressure on both teams to perform," Stokes said as quoted.
"As I said, it's not something that we're going to purposely go out and look to start because then that will take our focus off what we actually need to do out in the middle. But by no means, we're not going to take a backward step and let any opposition try to be confrontational towards us," he continued.
England won at Lord's by 22 runs and currently lead the series 2-1. The fourth Test will begin on July 23 at Emirates Old in Manchester.
Also read: India tour of England 2025: India to Miss Akash Deep’s Services in Manchester
