Three days of cricket that often failed to match the red-hot temperatures it has been played in ended on Saturday with six minutes of rancour, Shubman Gill exhorting Zak Crawley to “grow some fucking balls”, and both sides accusing the other of time-wasting. The sudden outbreak of tension came in the day’s extraordinary conclusion, in which England’s openers used every tactic in their armoury to prevent India squeezing a second over into their brief spell in the field before stumps.
India’s first innings ended – for 387, precisely the same score England got in theirs – 14 minutes before the day was due to conclude, and when Crawley and Ben Duckett emerged to start their second knock there were only six minutes remaining. The action that followed was punctuated by discussions between the batters, while Crawley on one occasion pulled away as Jasprit Bumrah neared the end of his run-up after spotting movement behind the bowler’s arm, and on another shook his hand in apparent agony and called for the physio after the ball bounced into his glove. “He’ll be assessed overnight and hopefully he’ll be all right to carry on tomorrow,” deadpanned Tim Southee, England’s coaching consultant.
It was at this point Gill and Crawley had an angry confrontation, some of which was caught on Sky’s stump microphone – the India captain is likely to face disciplinary action and the loss of at least part of his match fee as a result – while several India players sarcastically applauded the Englishman’s acting skills.
“What happened at the end, I mean, it’s just part of the game now. I know exactly what was going on,” said India’s KL Rahul, who earlier in the day had become the 100th man to be dismissed for 100 in Test cricket. “An opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes.
“Obviously we wanted to bowl two overs. There were six minutes left. Obviously it’s a no-brainer that any team will bowl two overs with six minutes to go. But it was a bit of theatrics at the end. We were all pumped up, because we know how difficult it is for a batter to come in to bat for two overs when you’ve been in the field all day. We were hoping we could get a wicket there, which would have been perfect for us. Even without that we’d have been fired up tomorrow, because of where the game stands. Both teams are back to zero after three days of hard-fought cricket. It all comes down to day four and day five. So we’d have been fired up anyway.”
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Southee said India’s actions earlier in the match, which have included multiple requests to change balls, extended impromptu drinks breaks, batters running off to visit the toilet and occasional interventions by their own physio – already 32 overs have been lost from the game because of slow play – meant they were unable to occupy the moral high ground.
“I’m not sure what they’re complaining about when Shubman Gill’s lying down getting a massage in the middle of the day yesterday,” he said. “It’s never ideal, I don’t think [to lose so much play]. But it’s obviously been hot, so there’s been more drinks than usual. There’s been a number of stoppages with the ball. Also, DRS takes time. There’s been a number of stoppages but I guess to lose that much, it’s probably at the extreme level.”
Southee insisted the scenes at the close of play did not reflect the state of relations between the teams, which he said have been fine throughout the series. “Both sides have played some good cricket, and in a good spirit,” he said. “I think tonight was just a bit of energy towards the end of the day. It’s been a long three days, and it’s good to see the energy still there from both sides … It’s good. It’s always exciting to see both sides animated towards the end. It’s part of the game.”
