Shubman Gill's explosion at press conference gets England's stamp: Zak Crawley ‘pushed things too far, umpires exposed'

Mark Ramprakash reckons Zak Crawley pushed things too far at Lord's during the third Test. Here's what he said about India captain Shubman Gill's reaction.

Former England batter and batting coach Mark Ramprakash feels Zak Crawley took things too far with the time-wasting episode during the Lord's Test against India. Minutes before stumps on Day 3, things reached an escalating point as India captain Shubman Gill hurled a mouthful after Crawley repeatedly backed away during Jasprit Bumrah's over to ensure India don't get another crack from the other end before the close of play.

India captain Shubman Gill (R) argues with England's Zak Crawley

Shubman Gill narrated the entire episode during the pre-match press conference on the eve of the Manchester Test against England. He said the host's opening batters were 90 seconds late to the crease and also kept wasting time. The 25-year-old questioned England's ‘spirit of the game’, saying things were not done in the right fashion, and hence, he lost his cool.

In his column for the Guardian, Ramprakash sided with the Indian camp, saying Crawley should have got on with it and not wasted much time. The Lord's Test saw plenty of sledging from both teams. However, it all started on Day 3.

“Batters at the end of a long day are always prone to pulling away or tying up a shoelace, but this was particularly poor and it really exposed the umpires, who throughout the match seemed most intent on keeping quiet and not getting involved,” Ramprakash wrote.

“On the Saturday, I watched England bowl for an hour, by the end of which they were four overs behind the rate, at which point they had the most leisurely drinks break. It seemed to take forever as the players milled around, had a chat, and sat down for a bit. There was no urgency at all, and the umpires just let it carry on,” he added.

Plenty of drama at Lord's

During the Jasprit Bumrah over right before the close of play on Day 3, Crawley pulled up when the pacer was in the middle of his run-up. He then sought medical attention after being hit on his gloves.

The Indian players mocked him by applauding his theatrics. Gill and Crawley then got into a verbal spat, with both players pointing fingers at each other.

Ramprakash also weighed in on Gill's behaviour, saying he didn't know that the Indian captain had it in him to get so animated.

“Many people would say Crawley was just being professional, doing whatever it took to help his side, and if the umpires weren’t bothered, then carry on. But I thought he pushed things too far and what can happen then, and did happen, is the opposition taking umbrage and discipline started breaking down," Ramprakash wrote.

“Shubman Gill, the India captain, got quite animated, and to be honest, I didn’t know he had that in him. Importantly, he was backed up by the rest of his players – it is in moments such as this that you see how together a team are. While I was not a fan of what happened, Gill saw his team were right there with him and showed real togetherness,” he added.

England currently lead the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-1 and both teams will now square off in the Manchester Test, beginning July 23.