It was a heated end to a match hanging in balance after India matched England’s first-innings total. England had about six minutes to play and it seemed India might get in two overs at them. But Zak Crawley wasn’t in an obliging mood, and did what batsmen generally tend to do in those circumstances – try wasting as much time legally as possible.
He went gardening down the track, he waved off spectators behind Bumrah, twice pulling out before the third ball. Shubman Gill walked up from the slip at that point to say something, with Ben Duckett intervening. Gill and Duckett had a short chat. Then before the fifth ball, Crawley went down the pitch for some bat-tapping. More words flew from the slips.
And Crawley got hit on his fingers off the fifth ball when a nipbacker crashed into him. He immediately wrung his hands in pain and called for physio.
CAPTAIN SHUBMAN GILL 🥶🥶🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/p9pOAR4gkf
— naym (@77Abdddd) July 12, 2025
The Indians swarmed all around the batsmen. Nearly all the close-in fielders started clapping sarcastically. Suddenly, Gill ran towards Crawley, said something, pointing his right index finger at the opener. And Crawley too returned the gesture and the verbals. Duckett rushed in and both he and Gill would stand very close to each other for a chat. Rahul ran across to get close to them, and the two parted. And as Crawley turned around and walked towards the hutch after the final ball, where he was beaten, Duckett would exchange a few words with the Indians, and this time a few smiles broke out. Crawley stood waiting half-way to the pavilion for his partner, and Siraj and he would exchange a few more words.
On Jio Sports’s studio discussion, Jonathan Trott, former England batsman and Afghanistan’s coach in the recent times, had his say on the episode, with a possible reference to Virat Kohli. Or so it seemed.
“We don’t know what went on when England were fielding, whether they were dishing it out. But I don’t like the acting from Shubman Gill, as a captain you set the tone. Pointing fingers and getting very confrontational , very much like a previous captain before getting in the face of the opposition. I am all for being competitive and being tough on the field, sometimes you have to rise above it. It sets up nicely for tomorrow’s play.
For his part, former India captain Anil Kumble, who led India through a more proper crisis during the Monkey-gate episode in Australia, would smile and offer measured words: “I haven’t seen Shubman so animated and going at the opposition He said a few words in the first innings as well.”
