"He should get to know that what he was doing was wrong" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill's altercation with Zak Crawley in ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that Shubman Gill was right in having an altercation with Zak Crawley in the third Test against England. He highlighted that the England opener had to be made aware that his time-wasting tactic, which every team employs, was wrong.

India suffered a 22-run loss in the recently concluded third Test against England at Lord's. Many experts believe that Gill's verbal altercation with Crawley before Stumps on Day 3 invigorated England and impacted the Indian skipper negatively as a batter.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener was asked about his thoughts on Gill's captaincy and his altercation with Crawley.

"That altercation, I was reading somewhere that he shouldn't have done that, that England got motivated because of that, and that Gill was trying to copy someone, and everyone should be their own self. I would say there was nothing wrong in it, to begin with. As a captain, sometimes you feel it's your duty," Chopra responded.

"Once you have batted, you want to encourage your bowlers. If Zak Crawley was taking a lot of time, it's all gamesmanship. We have also done it, and if Crawley was taking time and didn't want the second over to be bowled, which is absolutely fine, the other side of that is you go and give it to him. He should get to know that what he was doing was wrong," he added.

Shubman Gill got agitated when Zak Crawley was seemingly trying to waste time in the first over of England's second innings just before Stumps on Day 3. Although sufficient time was left to bowl two overs, the England opener's apparent delaying tactics ensured that only a solitary over was bowled, with the hosts avoiding losing a wicket before the close of play.

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"In the first match, he looked like a captain who was following the ball a little" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill's captaincy in ENG vs IND 2025 series

The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is Shubman Gill's first series as India's Test captain. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on Shubman Gill's captaincy, Aakash Chopra noted that the recently appointed skipper was following the ball in the first Test and was at his best with the bat in the second Test.

"In the first match, he looked like a captain who was following the ball a little. He came into his own as a batter in the second match. Not that he didn't score runs in the first match, but he scored 250-plus and 150-plus in the second, 430 runs in just one match. He wrote an excellent story for himself at Edgbaston," he said in the same video.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Gill has done decently as skipper and will need a little time to settle into the role.

"I think he is doing fine. Sometimes it takes a little time to understand and figure out what needs to be done. Sometimes you become proactive, and become reactive at other times. A lot sort of things are going to happen as it's a new time for Gill. He is a new captain and might not do everything right," Chopra observed.

Shubman Gill amassed 585 runs in four innings in the first two Tests against England. However, he managed only 22 runs across his two innings in the third Test at Lord's and seemed out of sorts when India were chasing a 193-run target.