Team India issue an official statement on Shubman Gill-Zak Crawley fight
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India vs England Day 3 not only marked some stunning cricket action but also some intense drama towards the end of the day. The Indian innings started well as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant played a good hand until lunch, while Stokes' direct hit dismissed Pant at the stroke of lunch.
Ravindra Jadeja played another vital role in the Indian innings, as after the dismissal of the two batters, he got the Indian innings rolling with two half-century partnerships with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar.
After the end of the Indian innings, when India looked to bowl two overs before the end of Day 3 and Zak Crawley looked to delay the play to limit it to only one over, Shubman Gill was left angered by this as he vented his frustration on the English batter.
The Indian fielders even opposed Zak Crawley's calling for medical assistance after Jasprit Bumrah's ball hit him high on the gloves.
KL Rahul breaks silence over last-over antics
After the end of Day 3's play, speaking to the press, centurion KL Rahul supported the claims that India looked to bowl at least two overs before the end of play. He pointed out that with 6 minutes left, any team would be looking for the same.
"There were six minutes left. It is 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," said KL Rahul.
"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," he said. "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," added KL Rahul.
However, Rahul also agreed that what Zak Crawley did was the obvious tactic under such circumstances, and he understands it as an opening batter.
"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," said Rahul at the end of his statement.
Feud between players spills into the commentary box
The on-field fiasco didn't limit itself only to the field, as the commentary box was also affected by it. The box at that time marked the presence of former skipper Nasser Hussain and former wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik.
The two backed the mentalities of their nations and exchanged some words in support of their sides.
“He’s hit on the glove now, Zak Crawley,” said Hussain, which was immediately followed by, “Crawley was hit on the gloves, he rightly called for the physio. Shubman Gill charged at him. Things got a bit heated towards the end."
To this, DK now had a subtle jab, as he replied, “Did you say, rightly called for the physio?”
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India failed to take the lead at Lord's
The visitors batted well for the first two sessions on Day 3, as the batters were scoring at a regular rate with Rahul and Pant on the crease. KL Rahul eventually went on to score a hundred, while Rishabh missed out on a well-deserved one.
Ravindra Jadeja scored his third consecutive fifty in the series; however, despite the backing of several such players, the Shubman Gill-led team failed in the last session and was eventually bowled out for 387, the exact score as that of England.
With no lead obtained, the visitors will bowl to England on Day 4, who instead have taken a lead of 2 runs, with Crawley getting those runs off the dramatic last over from Bumrah.
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India National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team India vs England England vs India Shubman Gill Zak Crawley KL Rahul ICC World Test Championship
