Dinesh Karthik impressed by ‘fiesty’ Shubman Gill, defends India captain's abuse-laden Zak Crawley verbal volley

Visibly impressed by Shubman Gill’s captaincy and leadership, Dinesh Karthik hailed Gill's aggressive template.

Dinesh Karthik has been impressed by Shubman Gill’s captaincy during the ongoing five-match Test series. Gill will be looking to win his first Test series as captain, but India also trail 1-2. The India skipper has also been in dominant form and has already registered three tons.

England's Zak Crawley clashes with India's Shubman Gill. (Action Images via Reuters)

Gill was also involved in a heated altercation with England opener Zak Crawley, in the third Test. During the incident, Gill was caught by the stump mic, using an abuse-laden rant at Crawley. Ahead of the fourth Test, Gill defended himself and said that he wasn’t proud of his altercation with Crawley, but that he did it for his team, as the Englishman’s time-wasting tacics were not in the spirit of the game.

Visibly impressed by Gill’s captaincy and leadership, Karthik told Sky Sports, “I have really enjoyed him as a captain so far. On the field, he is improving. But off the field is where is where I have been most impressed.”

“I think yesterday’s press conference was absolutely box office.

“I like it, it is good to be feisty, You need to have an identity as a captain. And Shubman Gill, from that third day at Lord’s, has shown that he has a lot of aggression inside him. The result may not have gone his way but the point is it has made for a thrilling Test series so far and his captaincy is right at the forefront of it, backed by his batting skills as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gill has also agreed with Karthik’s analysis and on Tuesday said, “It didn’t just come out of nowhere. And we had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But you’re playing a game, you’re playing to win, and there are a lot of emotions involved.”

Both sides are currently up against each other in the fourth Test. It was an entertaining affair on Day 1 as England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl. India reached 264/4 at Stumps, but also lost Rishabh Pant to injury. The wicketkeeper-batter retired hurt after a nasty foot injury,