Not in spirit of game – India’s Shubman Gill critical of England delay tactics

India captain Shubman Gill has accused England of acting against the “spirit of the game” as tensions between the teams rumble on following last week’s heated third Test at Lord’s.

The flashpoint that led to ill-feeling for the remainder of the match occurred on the third evening, when England’s openers had to bat out the final seven minutes but India only got through one over.

Zak Crawley repeatedly pulled out of his stance to Jasprit Bumrah, then called for the physio after being rapped on the finger, leading an irate Gill to shout an obscenity towards the England batter.

But while Gill begrudgingly accepted the time-wasting tactics when the players were on the pitch, what he was especially galled about was Crawley and Ben Duckett being late to the crease in the first place.

“A lot of people have been talking about it, so let me just clear the air once and for all,” Gill said.

“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. Even if we were in this position, we would have liked to play less 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.”

The spirit of cricket is baked into the history of the sport and is a set of unwritten principles that guide how the game should be played, although the varying interpretations can lead to grey areas.

England batter Harry Brook revealed the incident was the spark for them to show more aggression during India’s pursuit of 193 – they were all out for 170 to fall 2-1 down in the five-match series.

On the eve of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford, Gill hinted there were other issues at play that led to India’s hostility towards Crawley, in particular, and Duckett.

“Leading up to that event, a lot of things that we thought should not have happened had happened,” Gill added.

“I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m very proud of but there was a lead-up and build-up to that – it didn’t just come out of nowhere.

“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.

“When you see there are things happening that should not happen, sometimes emotions come out of nowhere.”

Brook disclosed on Monday that England head coach Brendon McCullum had told his team they were “too nice” before the third Test, and the Yorkshireman added: “The opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys was because of what they did (to Crawley and Duckett).

“We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren’t going out there effing and jeffing at them and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.”

England captain Ben Stokes, speaking before Gill, says his side will not seek to deliberately antagonise India for the rest of the Rothesay series, but insisted they will not shrink away either.

“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,” Stokes said.

“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.

“I think that goes for most teams, so it is not like we are the only team who does that.”