Shubman Gill’s Lord’s Meltdown Lacked Kohli’s Swagger — Deserves a ‘Slap on the Wrist’ and a Mirror

Shubman Gill’s Lord’s Meltdown Lacked Kohli’s Swagger: England and India found themselves trading accusations after a tense final few minutes on Day 3 at Lord’s. Shubman Gill was at the centre of it all when Zak Crawley’s tactics to slow the game down triggered a fiery response from the India captain. India were hoping to squeeze in two overs before stumps after finishing level with England’s first-innings score, but Crawley’s repeated backing away and a sudden physio call stopped that plan in its tracks.

When India were bowled out for 387 in their first innings and the scores were level, England had six minutes – two overs – to get through before stumps. For any openers that’s a no-win, nothing-to-gain situation so it wasn’t surprising to see Zak Crawley, on strike to Jasprit Bumrah, dawdling between deliveries.

Crawley, who has had a miserable tour with the bat, and Ben Duckett came to the middle late, trying to ensure that India only got one over of bowling as the England second innings began 90 seconds behind schedule. Then, the right-hander pulled out of his stance once, enraging Bumrah and leaving tensions simmering just beneath the surface. Off the fifth ball, Bumrah rapped Crawley on his right glove, prompting the batter to turn towards the dressing room and call for the physio. That’s when Gill, manning the catching cordon behind the stumps, lost his shirt.

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As Crawley walked towards him, India’s captain could be heard saying over the stump mic, ‘Grow some f***ing balls’ followed by a gesture that can’t be repeated in any forum. It was out of character because Gill is not a man to lose his cool, he’s composed, controlled and well mannered. It also wasn’t befitting of the captain of the team to behave thus.

At the time of writing Gill had not been summoned by Richie Richardson, the former West Indian captain who is the ICC match referee. Maybe that will change. Maybe Gill does deserve a slap on the wrist, maybe even a little more than that, for his outburst. Or maybe his otherwise impeccable disciplinary record will come to his rescue. Either way when Gill looks back on this with a clear head he will admit to himself he should have kept his emotions in check, there is no place for abuse on the cricket field.

For now, this must be lumped in the one-off category, because there is no recorded evidence of a transgression of this sort from the 25-year-old. Sometimes, in the heat of the battle, one does get a little carried away and it is easy to see why India were riled by what clearly were delaying, stalling, time-wasting tactics by Crawley. Umpires Reiffel and Saikat ought to have been more proactive right from the start of the English second innings and sounded out a stern warning to Crawley but just because they didn’t do so doesn’t give Gill the license to mouth off at an accepted if somewhat underhanded tactic embraced by the England opener.

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Kohli has had the reputation of being brash and aggressive from his Under-19 days – who can forget his animated reactions when his team won the World Cup final against South Africa in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 – but that’s not a label that has been attached to Gill. To say he has already taken a leaf from Kohli’s book will be premature and unfair. Even if he wasn’t the captain Gill might not have taken kindly to Crawley’s dawdle but as the head of the team he is expected to set higher, better, more acceptable standards.

But let’s not forget this is only Gill’s third Test as captain and perhaps he deserves some slack. His outburst can’t be condoned but for now it must be seen as an isolated incident and not as evidence that he has gone from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde forever.

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