Lord’s Test: Gavaskar makes bizarre remarks on Gill-Crawley fight, says ‘English players not playing IPL…’

Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley had an animated argument over the English opener deliberately wasting time just at the stroke of stumps on day three at Lord’s. Indecent gestures and pointing fingers were just a little part of the heated moment both teams shared in that one over off Jasprit Bumrah. Although Crawley wasting time to ensure Team India doesn’t get another over was the primarily reason why Gill and him got into a verbal tussle, watching everything getting unfolded from the commentary box, former captain-turned-broadcaster Sunil Gavaskar, decoded their fight and came up with a bizarre reasoning behind it, bringing the cash-rich IPL into the picture.

Gavaskar said only because several England Test team players, including Crawley, Joe Root and their captain Ben Stokes, don’t compete in the Indian Premier League, unlike other T20-bound players from the country, they don’t share the same camaraderie with the Indian players, leading to such instances.

“There is a reason why this happened. That’s because not a lot of England players are competing in the IPL,” Gavaskar said on air, as quoted by the Indian Express. “That’s my thinking. From this England team, Joe Root did not play, Ben Stokes did not play. Most of these English players don’t play in the Indian Premier League. 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 changing room. You see the players of other countries competing in the T20 league, and when they turn up against India in international cricket, there is no fight among the cricketers of both teams.

“On the other hand, we don’t see this happening between the Indian and English players. 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,” Gavaskar continued.

Gavaskar’s take on Crawley's antics

Crawley took the strike in the last over of the day against Bumrah. After the first two balls, wherein he even took a double, Crawley stepped aside before the third ball was bowled, pointing fingers at the side screen for disturbance, irking Bumrah and Gill, standing in the slips. It was then that Gill made indecent gestures while also shouting, ‘Grow some f**king b***s’ to Crawley.

However, the drama began after the penultimate ball, when Crawley pretended to be hit on the fingers of his batting hand, immediately calling out the team doctor for a quick check. That escalated the whole scene, as Gill rushed towards Crawley and made an ‘X’ sign towards the dressing room, mocking his injury and indicating to them that he cannot continue further.

Speaking on England and Crawley’s motives, Gavaskar said, “…England wanting to make it the last over. The Indians thought it was may bit of gamesmanship. Maybe it was. Zak Crawley has the right to call a physio, as pain is an individual thing. Indian batters should also follow these tactics. They don’t do it,” he added.