India captain Shubman Gill has accused England of breaching the spirit of the game during the third Test at Lord's, citing deliberate time-wasting tactics. Speaking on the eve of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Gill referenced an incident late on the third day when England's openers delayed play, including taking 90 seconds longer than permitted to reach the crease with seven minutes remaining.
“A lot of people have been talking about this so let me clear the air for once and for all,” said Gill. “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 teams [do] this, in that position we would have also liked to play less overs, but there is a manner to do it.” He added that the incident was not isolated, describing a build-up of events that led to his confrontation with England batter Zak Crawley.
England captain Ben Stokes defended his team's conduct, insisting they never crossed a line. “At not one stage did we go over the line,” said Stokes. “We're not going to let any team feel like they can intimidate us in any way. 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.”
Stokes also renewed criticism of the International Cricket Council's over-rate regulations, which have cost England 10% of their match fee and two World Test Championship points after the third Test. He argued that the rules are unfair across different conditions, saying, “You can't have the same rules in Asia, where spin bowling is 70% of the overs, and in New Zealand, Australia, England, where it's going to be 70%, 80% seam, because a spinner's over takes less time than a seamer's over.”
India, meanwhile, are weighing up whether to hand 24-year-old all-rounder Anshul Kamboj a debut after injuries to Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Arshdeep Singh ruled them out of the Manchester Test. Gill said of Kamboj: “We have seen him enough, the kind of skillset that he brings to the table is exactly what we want in this team and he's there because we believe he can win us the match.”
