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An already fiery series has just been spiced up by a spoonful of garam masala.
By accusing England on Tuesday of contravening the ‘spirit of the game’ during the ill-tempered third Test at Lord’s, India’s captain Shubman Gill has paved the way for more incendiary exchanges over the next five days in Manchester.
Because if Ben Stokes’s side were ‘revved up’ — as fast bowler Brydon Carse told Mail Sport this week — by the Indians’ overreaction to Zak Crawley’s time-wasting, imagine how they must feel now.
It is one thing to accuse a team of skulduggery, and it was obvious to everyone that Crawley was trying every trick in the book to run down the clock on the third evening at Lord’s.
But it’s quite another to revisit the incident 10 days later, and ratchet up the tension ahead of an Old Trafford Test both sides are desperate to win — England to clinch the series with a game to spare, India to square it and set up a decider at the Oval.
Gill was infuriated by what he believes was the deliberately tardy arrival at the crease of Crawley and Ben Duckett. He alleges they ought to have been ready to face Jasprit Bumrah’s first ball at 6.23pm, which would probably have allowed time for another over before stumps.
Ben Stokes has made it clear that his England side will not back down from a fight against India
Shubman Gill criticised England’s openers for walking out late to waste time in their third Test
India were not exactly blameless, though, and were guilty of time-wasting themselves
Instead, Gill says England’s openers were 90 seconds late, effectively halving the number of balls they had to negotiate.
And it was this, he said, that was ‘not something I would think comes in the spirit of the game’. Had Stokes’s media duties on the eve of Wednesday’s fourth Test followed Gill’s, the Manchester air might have turned blue in a part of town more readily associated with United’s red.
But the captain had already insisted his side would not ‘take a backward step’, adding: ‘We won’t let any opposition try to be confrontational towards us and not try to give a bit back.’
England’s decision to stop being ‘nice’ has achieved a collective buy-in, and appears to be part of a self-conscious evolution from happy-go-lucky Bazballers to a serious sporting outfit intent on being the best in the world. It won’t have escaped their attention that Gill indulged in his own bit of time-wasting on the second day at Lord’s, undergoing a long massage on the outfield.
Nor that only one player during the game was fined by ICC match referee Richie Richardson for bad behaviour: India seamer Mohammed Siraj, who screamed in Duckett’s face after dismissing him on the fourth morning.
England also noted the reaction of Nitish Kumar Reddy, who later veered aggressively towards Crawley after taking his wicket, before circling back towards the slip cordon to celebrate with team-mates. Then, on the fourth evening, nightwatchman Akash Deep indulged in some theatrical time-wasting of his own.
Stokes’s team were far from angelic themselves, but for India to behave as if they have sole possession of the moral high ground recalls the Australia teams who would preach about staying on the right side of the ‘line’, as if only they knew its whereabouts.
There is a further irony. England have invited mockery in the past for invoking the spirit of cricket, not least over the run-out of Jonny Bairstow during the 2023 Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Stokes admitted they will 'give a bit back' if an opponent tries to be confrontational with them
For Stokes, monitoring his players’ behaviour will not be his only task against an India team who are sticking with Bumrah, and considering a Test debut for Anshul Kamboj, amid a seam-bowling injury crisis.
Stokes revealed he is still refusing to sign the captains’ end-of-match documentation because the ICC have declined to address his concerns about the application of over-rate penalties — with England losing two of the 12 World Test Championship points they earned at Lord’s.
Stokes again argued that it was unfair to expect teams dominated by seamers to match the rate of spin-heavy opponents, saying: ‘Common sense would think that you should look at changing how the over-rates are timed in different continents.’
He also suggested that quicker scoring and bigger hitting have obliged fielding sides to chase leather more than they used to, impacting over-rates.
But Stokes must ensure this does not further harm his team’s prospects of reaching their first WTC final at the fourth attempt. England will stage the next three finals and the hosts’ continued absence from the showpiece event is starting to look careless.
Another lapse in Manchester, and their challenge could be over almost before it has begun.
