'Umpires exposed': Ex-England coach backs Shubman Gill, says 'Zak Crawley pushed things too far'

Ex-England coach backs Shubman Gill, says 'Zak Crawley pushed things too far'

The India vs England series is anticipated to get hotter, especially after the remarks passed by Indian skipper Shubman Gill at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Manchester Test, which starts from Wednesday. Gill on Tuesday questioned England's "spirit of the game" - referring it to the incident which led to almost a brawl like situation between him and English opener Zak Crawley at Lord's. The moment took place at the end of Day 3 of the third Test, which India lost by 22 runs. Then England were vividly reluctant and delayed things, leading to tense moments on the field.

Gill speaking about it at the presser said: "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 use this. Even if we were in a position, we would have also liked to play fewer overs. But there is a manner to do it.

"If you get hit on your body, the physios are allowed to come on. And that is something that is fair. But to come 90 seconds late on the crease is something that is not in the spirit of the game,” the Indian skipper noted.

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Former England batter and batting coach Mark Ramprakash in his column for The Guardian also seemed to agree with Gill, adding it exposed umpires.

“Batters at the end of a long day are always prone to pulling away or tying up a shoelace, but this was particularly poor and it really exposed the umpires, who throughout the match seemed most intent on keeping quiet and not getting involved,” Ramprakash wrote.

“On the Saturday, I watched England bowl for an hour, by the end of which they were four overs behind the rate, at which point they had the most leisurely drinks break. It seemed to take forever as the players milled around, had a chat, and sat down for a bit. There was no urgency at all, and the umpires just let it carry on,” he added.

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Reflecting his thoughts on Gill's outburst, the ex-England coach wrote: “Many people would say Crawley was just being professional, doing whatever it took to help his side, and if the umpires weren’t bothered, then carry on. But I thought he pushed things too far and what can happen then, and did happen, is the opposition taking umbrage and discipline started breaking down," Ramprakash wrote.

“Shubman Gill, the India captain, got quite animated, and to be honest, I didn’t know he had that in him. Importantly, he was backed up by the rest of his players – it is in moments such as this that you see how together a team are. While I was not a fan of what happened, Gill saw his team were right there with him and showed real togetherness,” he added.