It was during the third Test match where the Indian bowlers had bullied and sledged the England openers. Some fans thought of it as aggression while others termed it as an unnecessary reaction. Nevertheless, the England team went on to win that Test match taking the lead in the series and now both of the side will participate in the fourth Test match at Manchester.
Ahead of the eve of the fourth Test match, the India captain Shubman Gill opened up about the incident when he and his side bullied the England openers,Gill, pointing the finger as well.
“A lot of people have been talking about it, so let me just clear the air once and for all,” Gill said. “The English batsmen on that day had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the pitch. Not 10, not 20. Ninety seconds late.
“Yes, most of the teams, they use this [tactic]. Even if we were in a position, we would’ve also liked to play lesser overs, but there’s 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 spirit of the game.”
During this stage of play, Gill was captured on camera yelling obscenities at the England batters. He made vague references to things that were simmering beneath the surface, but he didn’t elaborate.
“And just leading up to that event, a lot of things that we thought should not have happened had happened,” Gill said. “And I wouldn’t say it was something that I’m 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 you’re playing a game, you’re 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.”
Ben Stokes, the captain of England, expressed a similar sentiment, saying that sledging is something that just comes to the surface and is not something they discuss or plan. He did, however, state that they will return as much as possible.
“I don’t think it is one of those things where we will necessarily just go out and start it,” Stokes said. “I don’t think either team has really looked to do that, but there will always be a moment in a series where things just heat up. It is a massive series, there is pressure on both teams to go out and perform. The environment when you are out there, there is going to be some moments, some heat showing [up].
“Obviously that night when Zak [Crawley] and Ben [Duckett] had to go out there and start everything off, we had the advantage of bowling last in a Test match to win and threw everything at India, not only with our skills but also with our energy in the field as well.”
It is eminent to mention both of the sides would play the second last and fourth Test match of the series on 23rd July at Manchester.
