London: India and England players were involved in a verbal spat to end Day 3 of the third Test at Lord’s. The incident happened on the final over of the day, when England opener Zak Crawley was spotted wasting time in the middle to delay the play. The hosts did not want to play more than one over in the day, and for the same reason, the England players arrived late to the crease, and Ben Duckett was spotted trying his best to take some time.
However, before the third ball of the over, Crawley called for a visual obstruction, even when there was no disturbance. That bothered the Indian team as Shubam Gill and pacer Jasprit Bumrah lost their calm. Crawley was taking some time to take guard, and that’s when the Indian captain was spotted sledging the England batter.
He said ‘show some f****** b****’, while the other Indian players joined in. Two balls later, Crawley once again complained of a finger injury, and that’s when the Indian players started clapping and sledged him further for wasting time in the middle. The 27-year-old did get back to Gill, but it’s unclear what he said. However, it set up for a feisty Day 4 at Lord’s.
India finished their first innings on 387, the same as England did. It marked the third time when India’s first innings finished on the same score as the opposition. In the final over, Crawley scored two, and that’s all England have got.
Day 4 will be interesting on multiple aspects, given that the Indian team will be charged up to deliver. For Crawley, who is fighting to keep his spot in the Test squad, it would be make it to break it kind of an innings.
