News
India are behind 2-1 in the five-Test series despite, in patches, playing the sharper cricket. The third match at Lord’s swung England’s way on a tense fourth evening, and Shubman Gill’s brief but noisy clash with Zak Crawley has become part of the post-mortem.
On day three Gill marched up to Crawley, objecting to what India felt were delaying tactics. Several team-mates joined in and, for the first time this series, tempers flickered. England responded when Gill walked out to open late on the following day and he was soon back in the pavilion for 6.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, speaking on the Match Day programme, linked the confrontation to Gill’s dismissal.
“The thing with Virat Kohli was that he would get even more fired up and become a better batter [if things got nasty],” Manjrekar said. “What disappointed me with Shubman Gill and that is why I was wondering, where is Shubman Gill heading? Because that seemed like it didn’t have the right effect on Shubman Gill the batter.”
Gill arrived at Lord’s with 485 runs from the first two Tests – three hundreds in four knocks, one converted into 269. The surface for the third Test offered sharper movement and he opened against a brand-new Dukes, not the ageing one he had previously feasted on. Manjrekar accepts the change in conditions, yet believes the added noise told too.
“He came out looking very tentative and, you know, these days we are privy to the stump mic and we could hear the things being said and there were some personal attacks made. This could be a new experience for Shubman Gill because these days, as you can see, you know, with Indian players, there’s mostly friendly reception from a lot of foreign teams. So this was new territory. And he looked tentative and wasn’t up for it.”
That tentativeness appeared in the numbers. Gill missed four of the nine balls he faced in the second innings – an unusual blip for someone whose control percentage has been the envy of the series.
“We saw it pan out in the way he batted,” Manjrekar said. “Because these were deliveries, good deliveries, but he’s negotiated beautifully through his marathon run as a batter through the series. And suddenly he was missing those balls. There was a review situation as well.
“Next ball, there was a leg before. Going through Shubman Gill’s defence has been hard work. He has hardly missed a ball. The control percentage has been brilliant. And suddenly, in about nine deliveries, he’s missed four. I have no doubt that there is a connection there.”
Manjrekar then questioned whether the show of aggression fits Gill’s natural character or stems from his new authority as stand-in skipper.
“And just to extend on that point, if Shubman Gill had that kind of a fiery side to him, we would have seen it a little earlier. You don’t have to show it when you’re captain. Or did he show it because he’s got this confidence now that he’s won a Test match and he’s got so many runs? Because with Virat Kohli, you could see that he was ready for a scrap. He was always waiting to get in the thick of things. Even when he wasn’t a captain, you could see him coming in there. So that was a t”
The former captain’s comment was cut short on air, yet the sentiment lingered. Gill’s next task is to decide whether fire or calm serves him best, with two Tests still to play and England smelling blood.
Numbers and next steps
• Gill’s series: 491 runs at 98.20, strike-rate 68.
• India need to win both remaining Tests to claim the series outright.
• The fourth Test starts in Manchester next Thursday; weather is expected to be cooler, which may aid swing but also reduce the pitch’s pace.
Technical note for casual fans: “control percentage” refers to the proportion of deliveries a batter plays with authority – no edges, misses or miscues. Gill led both sides in this metric until his Lord’s stumble.
For India, the challenge is collective. A handful of small errors – a shelled chance here, a run-out there, and perhaps one heated exchange too many – have placed them one match behind. Whether that remains the story of the tour could hinge on how their in-form opener handles both willow and words from now on.
