 "Ricky Ponting has reacted to Shubman Gill's aggressive style at Lord's. Reuters")
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has weighed in on India skipper Shubman Gill’s animated on-field behaviour during the dramatic Lord’s Test against England. Ponting called Gill’s approach “a little out of character” but also admitted that it is a sign of a young captain standing up for his team.
The third day of the Test saw heated exchanges between Gill and England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. India had matched England’s first-innings total of 387 and wanted to squeeze in two overs in the final six minutes of the day. However, the English batters took their time in getting ready and using other delaying tactics.
Ricky Ponting on Shubman Gill’s aggression
This frustrated the Indian team and Gill reacted aggressively, exchanging words with Crawley and Duckett before stumps. Speaking on The ICC Review, Ponting said Gill’s reaction may have surprised many but added that his captaincy instincts took over as he wanted to show his team that this is how they are going to play now.
“That was a little out of character from what I’ve known from Shubman in the past. I am sure everyone that was there watching it and I know you would know him quite well, that’s not what he’s generally like,” Ponting said.
“That’s the captain standing up for his team, that’s a captain really wanting to show that it’s his team now and this is the way that we’re going to play the game, and also, I guess, wanting to give a little bit back,” he added.
Ponting also compared Gill’s approach to Virat Kohli’s aggressive style rather than Rohit Sharma’s calmer leadership.
“I think that’s him starting to put his stamp on his team. And a lot like Virat (Kohli) did, similar ways like that. Rohit (Sharma) probably was never as outwardly aggressive, I guess, especially to opposition players,” Ponting said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“I know he (Rohit) would quite often get aggressive with his teammates and try to bring the best out of them that way. But I love watching Shubman stand up for what he thought was right in the game last week,” he added.
India lost the Test by 22 runs to trail the series 1-2. The fourth Test is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 23 in Manchester.