Our Bureau
London
After his animated and rather ugly spat with English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett on the third day of the Lord’s Test, Shubman Gill has seen heavy criticism from former English players and commentators. Gill’s recent string of small scores in Lord’s Test and the first innings of fourth Test have irked many and former England cricketer, Jonathan Trott believes he has become a “Villain” ever since the Day 3 incident.
On Day 1 of the Manchester Test, Shubman Gill was dismissed cheaply on the score of 12, when he left an inswinger from Ben Stokes which struck his pads. He was given out leg before by the on-field umpire leaving the Indian team stranded. Jonathan Trott, while commenting on the dismissal, stated that this was a reality check for the Indian captain. He noted that Gill was looking a bit tentative after the whole fiasco in the previous test.
Trott said, “This was a good delivery that came back in, but I’m looking at somebody who scored a ton of runs in the first couple of matches. I don’t want to connect this (dismissal) with the incident that happened on Day 3, but suddenly, Shubman Gill is now not getting the scores. This is a bit of a reality check. It’s not an extended stretch of failure, but he’s getting out to defensive shots. I see a bit of tentativeness. Something changed on Day 3. He’s a superstar in India, he goes to England, the world is at his feet, and now the world has suddenly changed.”
Former England cricketer claimed that Gill has now become a villain after the Day 3 incident. Although he performed exceptionally well in the first two tests, his performance has taken a blow in the last few innings and it will be interesting to see how he bounces back.
“Suddenly, he has gone from being a batter to being a villain, as he was portrayed in Day 3. Attention went from his batting to how he was leading the side. The reception that he got today is undoubtedly something to do with the way he carried himself. The first two Tests were about Shubman Gill, the batter, but since then, he’s made a target of himself. We need to see how long it takes Gill to bounce back from this,” Trott said.
