LONDON: England’s bowling coach Tim Southee has accused India’s captain, Shubman Gill, of hypocrisy following a last-over drama during the final over of day three at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
During the final over of the day, Zak Crawley twice pulled out while Jasprit Bumrah was running into bowl the first over England’s second essay, which began around six minutes before the close of play.
Following Crawley’s withdrawal, Gill was furious and told the England opening batter to ”grow some f***ing balls. Two balls later, the right-handed batter was hit on his finger, resulting in the physio running towards the ground.
Meanwhile, Indian fielders clapped sarcastically with both Gill and Crawley pointing fingers towards each other in a heated exchange.
Earlier, on day two, the Indian captain, Gill, spent several minutes lying down on the ground and received treatment during his side’s fielding.
England successfully negated the one over instead of two due to the delay. The newly appointed bowling coach, Tim Southee, shared his excitement about the unfolding drama at the home of cricket.
“It’s always exciting to see both sides animated towards the end,” he said.
“I’m not sure what they were complaining about when Shubman Gill was lying down getting a massage in the middle of the day yesterday. It’s obviously part of the game [when] you’re near the end of the day. It’s an exciting way to finish the day.”
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The former New Zealand pacer Southee indicated that Zak Crawley’s condition will be evaluated overnight while praising both teams for demonstrating high competitiveness.
“Both sides have played some good cricket and in a good spirit, and tonight was just a bit of energy towards the end of the day. It’s been a long three days, and it was good to see the energy still there from both sides,” he said.
“It’s never ideal, I don’t think, but it’s obviously been hot so there’s been probably more drinks than usual,” Southee said. “There’s been a number of stoppages with the ball also, and DRS takes its time… But yeah, to lose that much, it’s probably at the extreme level,” Southee explained while defending slow over rate.
India’s centurion on day three, KL Rahul, also reflected on the situation in the penultimate over of the day.
“We know how difficult it is for a batter to come to bat for two overs when you’ve been in the field all day. A wicket at the end of the day’s play would’ve been perfect for us. Tomorrow, even without that, I think we would’ve been fired up anyway.”
“What happened at the end is just part of the game now,” Rahul said. “I understand from an opening batter’s point of view. I know exactly what was going on, and everyone knows exactly what was going on. But an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes,” Rahul concluded.
England finished the day with 2-0, a lead of two runs after bowling out India for 387 in their first innings. For the visitors, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja made notable contributions with the will, while Chris Woakes was the standout bowler for the home team.
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