Shubman Gill portrayed 'villain' at Manchester, experts note India captain 'made a target of himself'

Shubman Gill portrayed 'villain' at Manchester, experts note India captain 'made a target of himself' (AP Photo)

Shubman Gill's ongoing animosity with England appeared to be working against him once more in Manchester. The Indian skipper, who plundered runs in the first two outings, was unable to replicate the show during the first essay of the fourth Test.

The tone was established by the tense play in the closing minutes of Day 3 in the previous match at Lord's as Gill got involved in a heated argument with Zak Crawley for wasting time on purpose. Things got more tensed as in the pre-match press conference ahead of the fourth encounter, Gill accused England of violating the "spirit of the game".

Given his reaction, Gill on expected lines was welcomed with jeers and boos when he walked out to bat in the second session of Day 1 at Old Trafford. Things got only worse for the Indian captain from here. He was cheaply dismissed for 12 after being struck by a delivery from his counterpart, Ben Stokes, which swerved sharply into the right-hander. Gill was declared LBW without offering a shot, which cost India both his wicket and a review.

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Former cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Jonathan Trott talked extensively about Gill's temperament after he was dismissed, and they appeared to concur that the incident at Lord's might have had a big effect on his batting.

Regarding Gill's dismissal, Manjrekar stated that after the heated altercation with Crawley and the subsequent turn of focus to his leadership, Gill has become "tentative" with the bat.

“Shubman Gill getting out the way he has… he's suddenly become tentative since that incident on Day 3,” Manjrekar noted while speaking on JioHotstar.

"I'll tell you what, there was an offensive shot he played before. This was a good delivery that came back in, but I'm looking at somebody who scored a ton of runs in the first couple of matches. I don't want to connect this (dismissal) with the incident that happened on Day 3, but suddenly, Shubman Gill is now not getting the scores. This is a bit of a reality check,” Manjrekar said.

"It's not an extended stretch of failure, but he's getting out to defensive shots. I see a bit of tentativeness. Something changed on Day 3. He's a superstar in India, he goes to England, the world is at his feet, and now the world has suddenly changed,” Manjrekar added.

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Gill has now turned into a "villain" in the series, noted Trott, who was also on the expert panel. “I think Sanjay makes a good point. Suddenly, he has gone from being a batter to being a villain, as he was portrayed in Day 3. Attention went from his batting to how he was leading the side. The reception that he got today is undoubtedly something to do with the way he carried himself,” said Trott.

“The first two Tests were about Shubman Gill, the batter, but since then, he's made a target of himself. You're either A - a good side, or B - have to face hostility. We need to see how long it takes Gill to bounce back from this,” Trott added.