Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is of the view that Indian captain Shubman Gill’s decision to have a go at England in the third affected his batting. The third Test match between India and England at Lord’s witnessed a lot of drama and tense moments. The most tense moment came when Shubman Gill got into a fiery confrontation with England openers Zak Crawley, expressing his displeasure over his (Crawley) time-wasting tactics and exchanging few words. Later, when Gill came out to bat during India’s pursuit of 193, he lost his wicket for 6 off 9, succumbing to the pressure created by England players.
"The thing with Virat Kohli was that he would get even more fired up and become a better batter [if things got nasty]. What disappointed me with Shubman Gill and that is why I was wondering, where is Shubman Gill heading? Because that seemed like it didn't have the right effect on Shubman Gill the batter," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
"He came out looking very tentative and, you know, these days we are privy to the stump mic and we could hear the things being said and there were some personal attacks made. This could be a new experience for Shubman Gill because these days, as you can see, you know, with Indian players, there's mostly friendly reception from a lot of foreign teams. So this was new territory. And he looked tentative and wasn't up for it."
In the second Test at Edgbaston, Gill was in fine form, smashing a record-breaking double century. He followed that up with a scintillating 161 in the second innings. But he struggled at Lord’s, giving away his wicket cheaply across both innings.
"We saw it pan out in the way he batted. Because these were deliveries, good deliveries, but he's negotiated beautifully through his marathon run as a batter through the series. And suddenly he was missing those balls. There was a review situation as well."
"Next ball, there was a leg before. Going through Shubman Gill's defence has been hard work. He has hardly missed a ball. The control percentage has been brilliant. And suddenly, in about nine deliveries [in the second innings], he's missed four. I have no doubt that there is a connection there."
Manjrekar pointed out if Gill had a fiery side in him, everyone would have seen it before he was appointed as India's Test captain.
"And just to extend on that point, if Shubman Gill had that kind of a fiery side to him, we would have seen it a little earlier. You don't have to show it when you're captain. Or did he show it because he's got this confidence now that he's won a Test match and he's got so many runs? Because with Virat Kohli, you could see that he was ready for a scrap. He was always waiting to get in the thick of things. Even when he wasn't a captain, you could see him coming in there. So that was a trait that we'd seen even before he was captain. With Shubman Gill, I've never seen it before."