The moments towards the end of the third day of the India vs England third Test at Lord's has triggered a big debate. With just about 10 minutes left for stumps, England had to come out for batting late on Day 3. To avoid facing more than one over, England opener Zak Crawley employed time-wasting tactics that were quite apparent. Team India led by Shubman Gill was very vocal during that time as they sledged Crawley for his tactics.
Experts are divided on Gill's verbal aggression. He has attracted some criticism but also got support. Former India opener Akash Chopra has come out in support of the India Test captain. He has said that Gill was right in calling out Crawley's time wasting antiques.
"That altercation, I was reading somewhere that he shouldn't have done that, that England got motivated because of that, and that Gill was trying to copy someone, and everyone should be their own self. I would say there was nothing wrong in it, to begin with. As a captain, sometimes you feel it's your duty," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"Once you have batted, you want to encourage your bowlers. If Zak Crawley was taking a lot of time, it's all gamesmanship. We have also done it, and if Crawley was taking time and didn't want the second over to be bowled, which is absolutely fine, the other side of that is you go and give it to him. He should get to know that what he was doing was wrong," he added.
India vs England 3rd Test
England openers were successful in playing just one over that evening but the home side got bowled out for just 192 on the fourth day of the Test. Led by captain Ben Stokes' resilient three-wicket effort, they managed to bowl India out for 170 and won the Test to take 2-1 lead in the series.
