India captain Shubman Gill tore into England opener Zak Crawley in late drama at Lord’s on July 12. Zak Crawley, batting in England’s 2nd innings, tried to delay the proceedings in the final minutes of Day 3 at Lord’s. The India captain, Shubman, who wanted his pacers to bowl 2 overs in the low evening light noted Crawley’s delay tactics. Angry and unsatisfied, Shubman, walked up to the England opener and chimed in: grow some balls!
The unsavoury dig was made after Crawley continually tried to walk away when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling India’s first over of the 2nd innings. Two overs were scheduled to be played in England’s final innings on Day 3, but Crawley’s delay tactics meant that India could only bowl one over against England in the final moments of the game.
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After walking away for a couple of balls, Crawley called in for the physio after getting hit on the gloves by Bumrah’s 5th ball of the over. The furious Indian team walked straight up to Crawley’s face and had several words to say.
The crowd joined in on the drama and jeered the players at the end of yet another slow-moving day at Lord’s.
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Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul were two of the prominent players to hurl expletives at the English batters after they flirted with some dark arts to go unscathed on Day 4 of the 3rd Test match.
Shubman Gill vs Zak Crawley: Ball by Ball Breakdown
To reiterate, the incident occurred in the final over of the day, the only over England batted on Day 3.
0.1: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, Angled in, on a back of a length, a bit of away movement, Zak Crawley shoulders arms.
0.2: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, Zak Crawley and England are away! Straying on the pads, on a length, Crawley clips it to the left of deep fine leg. Akash Deep moves to his left and tumbles in the deep to cut it off. Zak is off the mark with a couple.
Zak Crawley just bails out of the shot when Bumrah was about to deliver. Doing everything to cause a bit of a delay. Shubman Gill is right at the face of the batter and gives an earful from the slips. Bumrah gives a very cold stare at the batter. Meanwhile, the crowd goes bonkers at Lord’s.
0.3: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, Slanting in and then nibbling away, just outside the off stump, Zak Crawley holds his bat high and makes the leave.
0.4: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, Honing in on top of the off stump, on a back of a length, Zak Crawley lets the ball come to him and defends it right under his eyes.
0.5: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, Wow! It’s all heating up! Jasprit Bumrah lands it on a good length and there is a bit of lift off the deck. Zak Crawley lunges for the block. The ball kicks up a bit to catch Zak on the gloves and rolls beside him to his right. Crawley calls for the physio and that brings about a reaction from the Indian slip cordon.
Shubman Gill walks over to Zak and sarcastically asks if he is okay and goes on to make the ‘X’ sign of impact sub with his hands pointing towards the pavilion, possibly hinting that Crawley wants to retire hurt.
That clearly irks Crawley, who responds animatedly, and there’s some finger-pointing involved as well. Ben Duckett tries to defuse the situation and calm Shubman Gill down.
0.6: Jasprit Bumrah to Zak Crawley, A peach from Jasprit Bumrah but Zak Crawley survives! Just outside the off stump, on a good length, angling in and then it straightens to beat Crawley on the outside edge in defence. The ball rises on its way to the keeper and Dhruv Jurel collects it around his neck. A feisty end to Day 3!
Gavaskar Supports Crawley
As the players walked out together, there was more chatter between Crawley and Mohammed Siraj. Crawley’s opening partner, Ben Duckett had to intervene, and pulled Siraj away from his partner.
Sunil Gavaskar, surprisingly, took the side of Zak Crawley after the day’s play. Gavaskar said that opening batters do not have the cushion of nightwatchmen, and understandably did not want to bat late in the day. Gavaskar said that Crawley was well within his rights to call for the physio after getting hit by Bumrah on his gloves.
At the end of Day 3’s play, England are only 2 runs ahead of India in the Test matchy, which makes for potentially a fascinating contest in the final two days of the game.
– Ends
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