“That wouldn’t even…” - Shubman Gill opens up on ‘show some f**king balls’ controversy

India’s newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill has finally opened up on the intense moments from the third day’s play of the Lord’s Test, which India lost by 22 runs as they are trailing the five-match Test series by 1-2.

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Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gill stated that his sledging incident off Zak Crawley didn’t turn things up and added that it wouldn’t even come in top five game-changing moments for him. 

Furthermore, Gill asserted that Rishabh Pant’s run-out in the first innings turned out to be more crucial as India failed to get an important 50 to 100-run lead, which could’ve kept England on the backfoot right away.

“No, five minutes can't define five days of hard work. If you ask me about key moments, that wouldn't even be in my top five. For us, Rishabh's run-out was more crucial. At one point, we felt we could get a 50–100 run lead, which would’ve been massive on Day 5 when batting gets tough. That was a big turning point. Had we secured that lead, we could've put England on the back foot. By the end of Day 3, the match was level. From there, the team that batted better was going to win,” said Gill in the post-match press conference.

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Also, Gill reckoned that sometimes things get heated on the field from both sides, which makes the game exciting and challenging. However, he assured that there will always be mutual admiration between the sides.

“Obviously, there was a lot of tension and emotion. You're giving everything—mentally, physically. So sometimes, things can get heated on both sides. But that’s what makes it exciting and challenging. The next time we face them, there’s mutual admiration. Both teams gave their best to win. When you're in the heat of the moment, you're doing everything you can for your team. That emotion is part of what makes Test cricket so special,” he added.

For the unversed, Gill and English opening batters Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett involved in heated moments on Day 3 before stumps. As India were expecting to bowl two overs before the end of play in the designated six minutes, Crawley was seen wasting a lot of time, which didn’t go down well with Gill, who shouted at the opener, “Grow some f**king balls”.

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