‘Not in spirit of the game’: Shubman Gill justifies his spat with Zak Crawley at Lord’s, shares update on Akash Deep

India captain Shubman Gill has finally spoken about his heated exchange with Zak Crawley during the third Test at Lord’s, saying the situation built up after England’s time-wasting tactics and was “not in the spirit of the game.”

India and England players were involved in several altercations during that game, which the home side eventually won by a narrow margin of 22 runs. The spat that caught the most attention was between Gill and Crawley on Day 3.

Gill explained what really happened in the final moments of Day 3 when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling. Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Gill accused the English batters of deliberately wasting time by coming 90 seconds late to the crease and then calling the physio to slow the game further.

“Yes, a lot of people have been talking about it. So, let me just clear the air once and for all. The English batsmen 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,” Gill said.

“Even if we were in a position, we would have also liked to play fewer 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 something that is not in the spirit of the game,” he added.

Also Read: ‘Team always comes first’: Irfan Pathan tells Bumrah to learn from Ben Stokes, put in extra effort for India

Gill admitted that the reaction was emotional but pointed out it didn’t happen suddenly. “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,” he said.

He further explained the mindset in such tense moments. “We had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But 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 updates on team combination

Shubman Gill also gave an update on the Indian team combination for the must-win fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. “Akash Deep is unavailable, so is Arshdeep, but we have good players in the team to pick twenty wickets. It is not ideal to have different bowlers but I was prepared,” he said.

On the possibility of a debut for young pacer Anshul Kamboj, Gill said the decision will be made on the morning of the match. “He is very close to making his debut. We will see between Prasidh and Anshul tomorrow,” Gill confirmed.

Also Read: Anshul Kamboj story: Why the Haryana pacer is next in line for an India debut

India are currently 2-1 down in the five-match series and will need a big effort in the next game to level the contest and stay alive.