Shubman Gill dismissed accusations of confrontational tactics, emphasizing that India’s reaction stemmed from England’s delayed arrival to the crease at Lord’s.
Gill’s Fiery Response to England’s Delaying Tactics
It took Shubman Gill just two minutes to drag England down from the moral high horse they have clambered on since the third evening of the Lord’s Test. The narrative from an obliging English media has revolved around how India’s ploy to confront a deliberately tardy Zak Crawley towards the closing stages of Saturday’s play in the third Test backfired spectacularly on them. While it can’t be denied that that faceoff seemed to adversely impact Gill, the chief protagonist, when he came out to bat in the last half-hour the following day, to ascribe India’s 22-run loss to their ‘confrontational’ approach is taking things too far, even by English standards.
England had between six and seven minutes of batting at the start of their second innings on day three, enough time for two overs even if the first took five minutes. But Crawley and Ben Duckett, clear that they would only bat one over, walked in fashionably late, 90 seconds beyond the 10 changeover minutes even as umpires Reiffel, who had a shocking Test, and Saikat chose to remain mute spectators. The role of the officials in this episode has hardly been debated; it can’t be denied that they didn’t deem it fit to step in despite England’s obvious delaying tactics, some of it understandable, much of it out of line.
With Jasprit Bumrah chomping at the bit and India’s close-in cordon fired up at the prospect of 12 no-win deliveries at Crawley and Duckett, the former took his time, pulling out as Bumrah steamed in to bowl the second ball, then calling for the physio after being struck on the glove off the fifth ball. That’s when Gill lost his shirt, exhorting the out-of-form Crawley to grow some ‘balls’, with an expletive thrown in. England claim that lifted them as a team – hello, shouldn’t Test cricket be reason enough to lift themselves? – and contributed to the storytelling by tom-toming about India losing because of that incident.
Shubman Gill Clears the Air on ‘Confrontational Tactics’
On Tuesday, as Shubman Gill wrapped up a lengthy press conference handled with characteristic poise – his outburst at Lord’s, it must be assumed for now, was a one-off – he was asked by an English journalist if he regretted employing ‘confrontational tactics’. As if waiting for the moment, Shubman Gill sent the question out of the park, like dispatching a juicy full toss.
“Yes, most of the teams, they use this (delaying tactics). Even if we were in that position, we would have also liked to play lesser overs,” he admitted. “But there is a manner to do it. If you get hit on your body, the physios are allowed to come on. That is fair. But to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game. Just leading up to that event, a lot of things that we thought should not have happened, it had happened.”
"Not something that I think comes in the spirit of the game" 🤔
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 22, 2025
India captain Shubman Gill was not impressed with England's behaviour on the third day at Lord's 🏴🇮🇳pic.twitter.com/CDNcKUbPAs
“I wouldn’t say it (the verbals) was something I am very proud of. But there was a lead-up and build-up to that. It didn’t just come out of nowhere. 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. When you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere.”
Shubman Gill has made it clear that, contrary to certain perceptions in England, the only battle India are interested in is between bat and ball. By calmly and lucidly explaining his team’s stance, he has punctured England’s narrative of being victimised. Inevitably, in the heat of competition, emotions will surface, but Shubman Gill insists they should be organic, not orchestrated – unlike England head coach Brendon McCullum, who was seen urging his players from the balcony to start chirping when Washington Sundar came out to bat on day five.
Apparently, England were annoyed when, the previous evening with India at 58 for four while chasing 193, Washington confidently claimed his team would ‘definitely’ win, perhaps by lunch. Poor Washington – should he have instead predicted an easy England victory? England threw down the gamesmanship gauntlet, and Shubman Gill hurled it right back at them. What fun – and what drama still lies ahead.
