India captain Shubman Gill says England acted against the “spirit of cricket” during a dramatic third Test at Lord's.
India captain Shubman Gill accused England of acting contrary to the "spirit of cricket" with time-wasting tactics that sparked a number of confrontations in the dramatic third Test at Lord's.
England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett ensured they faced only one over at the end of the third day and were surrounded by the tourists, including captain Gill.
The players frequently clashed over the remaining two days of England's 22-run win. India pace bowler Mohammed Siraj was punished for his celebration of Duckett's wicket on the fourth morning, while England seamer Brydon Carse and visiting all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had to be separated on the final day.
Speaking before Wednesday's fourth Test at Old Trafford, where England can seal a series win, home captain Ben Stokes said events on the third evening at Lord's "sparked everyone off a little bit" in relation to the way his side were inspired over the rest of the Test.
But Gill claimed Crawley and Duckett were 90 seconds late in arriving to the crease for the start of England's second innings at Lord's, causing Indian emotions to "come out of nowhere".
"A lot of people have been talking about it, so let me clear the air once and for all," said Gill.
"If we were in that position, we would also like to play less overs, but there's a manner to do it.
"To be able to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game."
England dismissed India late on Saturday of the Lord's Test, leaving the scores level on 387 after the first innings.
With the close drawing near, the home side looked to limit the amount of overs they faced that evening. Crawley, facing Jasprit Bumrah, pulled out of his stance on a number of occasions, then also called for the physio after he was struck on the hand.
England's players were confronted by the visitors, while Sky Sports had to apologise for Gill swearing. The words between the two teams continued as they left the field at the end of play.
"The English batsmen on that day, they had seven minutes of play left," said Gill. "They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20, they were 90 seconds late.
"Leading up to that event, a lot of things we thought should not have happened, happened. I wouldn't say it's something I'm very proud of, but there was a lead-up and build-up to that event. It didn't just come out of nowhere.
"We had no intention of doing that whatsoever. You're playing a game, playing to win and there are a lot of emotions involved. When you see things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere."
Stokes spoke before Gill, so did not have the opportunity to respond directly to the allegation his team acted against the spirit of the game.
On Monday, batter Harry Brook revealed coach Brendon McCullum told England they were "too nice" before the Lord's Test, an assessment Stokes agreed with.
"Maybe too nice is a good way to put it, so it's great when we can go out and do what we did there, and we were able to back it up with our actions," Stokes told BBC Sport.
Despite the regular flashpoints over the final two days of the Lord's Test, Stokes was adamant neither team engaged in any behaviour that was unacceptable.
"Conversations and back-and-forth you see out in the middle sometimes get massively over-analysed and criticised," said Stokes.
"No-one would have gone crying themselves to sleep over what we said to each other. We're very quick these days to stamp down on that kind of stuff. It just shows passion, desire. Both teams are out there wanting to win.
"It's never going to go over the line and if it does go over the line, then it's the responsibility of the captain out there to pull it back. At not one stage did we go over the line and at not one stage did India go over the line."
England will win the series with a game to spare if they win the fourth Test in Manchester. India have not won on any of their nine visits to this ground, while England have lost only twice here this century.
Although the aggression served England well at Lord's, Stokes said his team will not go seeking confrontation at Old Trafford.
"We are certainly not going to go out there and just start it off for nothing, because I don't want it to take our attention away from what the goal of this week is," said Stokes.
"It was nice we've said we're not going to let any team feel like they can intimidate us in any way.
"It's not about shying away from confrontation, it's just making sure that is not the main goal. It's doing it in the right way, keeping your emotions in check with it all. Every team in the world, if there's a little bit of niggle, I'm sure all their team-mates will jump in and help them out. That's what we did last week."
Category: General Sports
