New India Test captain continues to receive flak on his aggressive approach, which was shown during the third Test against England at Lord’s, where things got heated between him and English opener Zak Crawley. On the evening of Day 3, tempers rose when Crawley tried to run down the clock. Gill, usually a calm one on the field, was seen furious at Crawley’s tactics and had a heated exchange with him.
Former Indian player Manoj Tiwary joins the long list of critics and said Gill is trying to copy Virat Kohli, which is not helping his batting.
“I don’t like the way captain Gill is going about things. I think he is trying to copy what Virat did last time. And as a result, it is not helping his batting,” said Tiwary as quoted by SportsBoom.
“Ever since he became a captain in the IPL, I have noticed that he is getting into an aggressive mindset, and having animated chats with umpires. It was unlike Gill. He doesn’t need to show that kind of aggression, and doesn’t have to prove anything,” he added.
Former Bengal captain feels Gill can be aggressive without giving it back verbally. “I know a captain should lead from the front, but this much aggression is not required. It takes your energy away. He can stick to his style of being aggressive. It doesn’t mean that you have to always give it back verbally. Aggression can also be shown by winning Test matches,” he said.
“India could have easily led the series 2-1. Such aggression is not good for the game, especially from the captain of the Indian cricket team,” Tiwary added.
Tiwary seemed upset to hear the language that was used in the heat of the moment. “I am not happy with the language and words that are coming in the audio when they are near the stumps. You are representing the Indian cricket team. I think this has become a trend, as previous captains have probably used such words to express their anger, but this needs to be controlled. If you use slang, the next generation will pick it up,” he said.
