India's Gill accuses England of ignoring 'spirit of the game' by time-wasting
The tourists ought to have been able to bowl two overs late on the third day's play of the third Test after being dismissed for 387 -- exactly level with England's first-innings total.
Crawley, however, ensured there were only six deliveries from Jasprit Bumrah before stumps by twice withdrawing from his stance and then calling for the physio after the fifth ball appeared to make only minimal contact with his glove.
Passions flared as it became evident India would not be able to bowl another over before the close, with host broadcaster Sky Sports issuing an on-air apology after a stump microphone picked up Gill swearing angrily at Crawley.
England went on to win a thrilling, if increasingly ill-tempered, match by 22 runs to go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
Gill, in his first campaign as India captain, addressed the issue on the eve of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
"A lot of people have been talking about it so let me just clear the air once and for all," the 25-year-old said on Tuesday.
"The English batsmen on that day had seven 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 (delaying tactic). Even if we were in this position we would have liked to play fewer overs but there's 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 be able to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that comes in the spirit of the game."
Gill admitted he was not proud of swearing at Crawley but said it took place in the context of rising tensions.
"We had no intention of doing that whatsoever but you're playing a game, you're playing to win and there are a lot of emotions," said the India skipper.
"When you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes emotions come out of nowhere."
England batsman Harry Brook said the flare-up had paved the way for the hosts "to not be the nice guys".
Paceman Jofra Archer gave an aggressive send-off to Rishabh Pant after dismissing the India dangerman on the final day.
England captain Ben Stokes, speaking before Gill on Tuesday, insisted his side had no deliberate plan to rile India, but nor would they shirk from confrontation.
"It's not something we're going to go out and purposefully look to start (an argument) because that will take our focus off what we need to do out in the middle," said Stokes.
"But by no means, we are not going to take a backward step and let any opposition try and be confrontational towards us and not try to give a bit back."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
8 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Bumrah playing in final Test would be 'great' for India, says skipper Gill
India will consider whether to go back on their plan to restrict Jasprit Bumrah to just three Tests in England after keeping a five-match series alive with a battling draw at Old Trafford on Sunday. Bumrah's back injury earlier this year led India to announce the outstanding fast bowler would only feature in three games of the England series in a bid to manage his workload. And the world's top-ranked Test bowler made his third appearance of the campaign in Manchester where India batted out five sessions and 143 overs to deny England an unassailable 3-1 series lead. India could now field Bumrah when they try to end the series all square at 2-2 in next week's concluding Test at the Oval. But with that clash in south London starting on Thursday, there is little time for Bumrah to recover after he sent down a tiring 33 overs during England's mammoth 669. Bumrah's return of 2-112 also meant the 31-year-old conceded more than a hundred runs in an innings for the first time in his celebrated 48-Test career. But India captain Shubman Gill insisted he would be delighted to have Bumrah in his side for the finale. "If he feels like he's fully fit and available for us, I think it would be a great deal for us," Gill told the BBC. "If he's not playing, I still think we have the right kind of bowling attack. "Akash Deep is available for the last Test, so we will have a bowling attack that could take 20 wickets for us." India will have to make at least one change, with Rishabh Pant ruled out after the wicketkeeper-batsman suffered a broken foot at Old Trafford. Pant left the field on a buggy on the opening day after edging Chris Woakes onto his boot when on 37 but returned less than 24 hours later, making 17 further runs before he was out for 54 in India's first-innings 358. "Rishabh, already it's been declared that he's out of this series," India coach Gautam Gambhir told reporters. "The character and the foundation of this team will be built on what Rishabh did for the team and the country. "Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot." After Gill had made a fine hundred, his fourth of the series, there was a farcical finish to the fourth Test after Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja rejected England's offer to end proceedings with 15 overs remaining –- the earliest a draw could have been agreed. The pair had performed superbly to bat out the final two sessions and spare India defeat, but on 80 and 89 respectively, they wanted to underline their gutsy displays with hundreds. England were unimpressed with captain Ben Stokes bringing on batsman Harry Brook for 'help yourself' runs. Jadeja was the first to capitalise on the 'buffet bowling' before Sundar followed him to three figures for a maiden Test hundred. But Gambhir, a former India batsman, said: "If someone from England had been batting on 90 or 85, if someone has the opportunity to get a first Test hundred, would you allow him to do it? "They weathered the those guys deserved a hundred and fortunately they got it." But Stokes said: "That partnership was massive, they played incredibly well and I don't think there would have been too much more satisfaction at walking off 100 not out than 80 or 90. "Scoring 10 more runs isn't going to change the fact you've got your team out of a very, very tricky situation and saved your team from a series defeat."
Khaleej Times
9 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
England beat Spain in penalty shootout to win Euro 2025
Chloe Kelly converted the decisive kick as England beat Spain 3-1 on penalties to win the Women's Euro 2025 after Sunday's final had finished 1-1 at the end of extra time, allowing the Lionesses to avenge their defeat in the World Cup final of two years ago and retain their continental crown. It looked as though Spain would repeat their victory over England in Sydney two years ago as they dominated the game at St Jakob-Park in Basel and led through Mariona Caldentey's first-half header. But England did not panic, having already trailed against both Sweden in the quarter-finals and Italy in the semis before finding a way to win. Alessia Russo headed in their equaliser just before the hour mark, and no further goals meant a shoot-out in which Kelly -- who once again had a huge impact off the bench -- netted the winner. It was an agonising way to lose for Spain, but they failed to score three of their spot-kicks, with reigning Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati seeing her effort saved. Sarina Wiegman's England are therefore back-to-back European champions, with this triumph coming three years after they defeated Germany in extra time at Wembley to win a first women's major tournament. Defeating Spain here helps make up for the agony of losing that World Cup final in 2023, and the victory also confirms Wiegman's place among the coaching greats. She has now won three consecutive European Championships, having led her native Netherlands to victory in 2017 before doing the same with England three years ago. Spain, meanwhile, fell short in their quest to add a maiden European Championship title to the World Cup they won in Australia. La Roja dominated possession as expected, but ultimately paid the price for not putting the game to bed against an England side who never know when they are beaten. Wiegman's team had been 2-0 down against Sweden in the last eight before scoring twice to force extra time as they eventually won on penalties. Then substitute Michelle Agyemang's 96th-minute equaliser denied Italy in the semifinals in Geneva, when Kelly netted the winner in extra time. England had ultimately not played well during much of their run to the final, but it did not matter. Wiegman had taken a gamble on the fitness of Lauren James which paid off, but not quite as planned -- having come off with an ankle injury against Italy, the Chelsea winger did not last until half-time and was replaced by Kelly. By that point Spain were already in front, scoring when Bonmati and Athenea del Castillo combined to set up Ona Battle and her cross from the right was headed in by Caldentey. Montse Tome's Spain, with seven players from Barcelona in their starting line-up, had already been in control before that and it felt like England's best hope was for complacency from their opponents. The best example of that came with the game still goalless, when Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll played a careless short pass to Laia Aleixandri in her own area. Lauren Hemp was alive to the opportunity and pounced, but Coll reacted well to make the save. Yet even at 1-0 it felt like England were still in the game, and they took their chance when it came in the 57th minute when Kelly crossed from the left for her Arsenal teammate Russo to level the scores. England -- with more fans on their side in the crowd of 34,203 -- now sensed yet another comeback win was on the cards, and it took the fingertips of Coll to prevent a Kelly effort from finding the far corner midway through the second half. Agyemang then came on for Russo, hoping to once again play the role of super-sub, while Salma Paralluelo was among those brought on for Spain. Paralluelo found herself in a promising position on several occasions as the game continued into extra time, and from there to the gripping tension of penalties. Beth Mead's first kick for England was saved after she was forced to retake, and captain Leah Williamson also had her effort stopped by Coll. However, Alex Greenwood and Niamh Charles both scored, while Patri Guijarro was the only successful taker for Spain before Kelly stepped up to win it.
Khaleej Times
10 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
'No less than a win for us': Gill hails India's batting heroics in 4th Test
India, led by captain Shubman Gill, batted with great character to secure a hard-fought draw in the fourth Test against England on Sunday and keep the series alive going into the final game. After losing two wickets before they had scored a run in their second innings, India batted for over five sessions for the loss of two more wickets to end the final day on 425-4 at Old Trafford. A courageous hundred from Gill -- his fourth of the series -- and dogged unbeaten centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar gave the home crowd little to cheer on a tough day for England. A closely-fought series remains at 2-1 to England and the hosts must avoid defeat in the final Test at the Oval in London, starting on Thursday, to win it. "This is no less than a win for us, given we were around 300 runs off the lead. Our batsman put on a great display," Gill told the BBC. "As soon as England got the new ball, it was doing a little bit but our batters did really well and it was tremendous, with a little bit of luck going our way as some balls can get dragged on, brilliant batting and brave batting." England captain Ben Stokes, who took five wickets in India's first innings but was not fit to bowl much on Saturday, brought himself into the attack on Sunday morning with India resuming on 174-2. The hosts were firm favourites to seal victory at this point, even more so when Stokes' reintroduction paid dividends. The 34-year-old trapped KL Rahul lbw for 90, ending his excellent third-wicket partnership with Gill at 188. Gill remained undeterred, however, even after getting a nasty blow on the hand. In his first series as captain, the 25-year-old became only the third skipper to score four hundreds in a single Test series. After almost seven hours at the crease, a tired-looking Gill wafted at a Jofra Archer delivery to fall just before lunch for 103. Jadeja was dropped the next ball by Joe Root, a tough chance at first slip. England still had plenty of time to secure victory, but the home side barely created any chances, with India seeing out the draw in relative comfort. Washington moved along conservatively after lunch, but hit successive boundaries, one a huge six, to move to his fifth Test half century. Jadeja reached his fifty and passed 1,000 test runs against England -- the third Indian to do so this series. After tea, with their chance of victory gone, England offered India the chance to call a halt to proceedings early, but Gill kept his team out there. With England rotating their bowlers, Jadeja swept to his fifth Test ton under no pressure, before Washington quickly completed his maiden Test hundred. India did then agree to a draw – the first non-rain affected draw for England since coach Brendan McCullum and Stokes came together in 2022. "Another hard-fought test," Stokes told reporters. "Another five-dayer. We set the game up really well, the way we put the Indian bowlers under pressure, focusing on batting once. "We gave ourselves a great chance of bowling them out. We played the game how we wanted to, it didn't just pan out the way we wanted," Stokes added. "Mentally I feel fine, physically I've been better. It has been a pretty big workload this series."
