Our Bureau
London
The last moments of Day 3 of the Lord’s test match was filled with antics as England opener Zack Crawley tried to stall time which didn’t sit well with Indian players. The Indian captain Shubman Gill was seen having arguments with both Crawley and Ben Duckett while other players including Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah had a word or two for them too.
Indian cricket legend and commentator, Sunil Gavaskar was very blunt in his analysis of the whole situation. Gavaskar said, “England wanted to make it the last over. The Indians thought it was maybe a bit of gamesmanship. Maybe it was.”
However, Gavaskar stated that the whole fiasco escalated because a lot of English players do not play in the Indian Premier League unlike other international sides. Other players travel with Indian players, spend around 2-3 months with them during IPL which strengthens their bond with each other.
Gavaskar said, “There is a reason why this happened. That’s because not a lot of England players are competing in the IPL. That’s my thinking. From this England team Joe Root did not play, Ben Stokes did not play. What has happened with other teams is that a lot of their players are in the IPL. They have mixed with the Indian players, travelled with them. They shared a changing room.”
The Indian legend also pointed out how before the IPL there was a lot of animosity between players but it has died down since they have started playing for the same franchises. However, he stated that players still play with intensity when they play against each other but there’s no animosity now.
“This is what I keep saying, before the IPL, there was a lot of animosity, bordering on being brutal, between some players. That intensity is still there, like Archer bowling to Yashasvi. There is a lot of confrontation between India and England players because they don’t play in the IPL,” the little master said.
