Shubman Gill’s outburst at Lord’s sparked debate about whether the aggression comes naturally to him or whether he's blindly aping his former teammates, but it’s far too soon to draw conclusions from a single flashpoint, writes Sarah Waris.
At the end of day three at Lord’s, with tempers flaring and time running out, Shubman Gill let out a few words not typically associated with the venue’s long-standing restraint and formality.
It was the final over of the day in the third Test, and India had handed England five minutes to bat, hoping to sneak in a couple of overs. But Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett did what almost all openers would in that scenario: slowed the game down. Short walks to the middle of the pitch, a few stretches, a delay for a physio visit, some water. Time ticked on, as it became certain that India would only be able to get one over in.
From slip, Gill’s frustration kept simmering, until it spilt over. He moved towards Crawley with an animated hop-walk-run, gestured the ‘impact sub’ signal, pointed fingers at his face and muttered expletives, for which Nasser Hussain had to apologise.
A week later, he was still fuming. "A lot of people have been talking about it, so let me clear the air once and for all," said Gill. "If we were in that position, we would also like to play less overs, but there's a manner to do it. To be able to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game. The English batsmen on that day, they had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20, they were 90 seconds late. Leading up to that event, a lot of things we thought should not have happened, happened. I wouldn't say it's something I'm very proud of, but there was a lead-up and build-up to that event. It didn't just come out of nowhere. We had no intention of doing that whatsoever. You're playing a game, playing to win and there are a lot of emotions involved. When you see things happening that should not happen, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere."
It was a side of Gill not often seen. Calm with the bat and rarely expressive, that perception has gradually shifted on the England tour.
Coming into the Test series without a fifty outside Asia since the Gabba in 2021, Gill, newly anointed skipper, had a lot to answer. He has done it, to a large extent, making 607 runs in just six innings, the most by an Indian batter in a Test series in England. So far, it includes three centuries, headlined by a composed double century at Edgbaston, where he made 430 runs across both innings. He has batted with a control rate of 90%, the highest by any batter in the series, numbers that indicate just how at ease he has been, barring a brief phase at Lord’s in the second innings where he looked rushed and unsettled.
Gill’s contributions in this series have extended beyond runs. He was tasked with overseeing a side with only one win in their last eight Tests without senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. England away is a difficult challenge under any circumstances. Doing so while leading a transition makes it harder.
Three Tests in, India have only one win to show for it. But the results don’t tell the full story. In each match, India have remained competitive, and it’s the missed chances and key moments not seized that have shaped the scoreline. The series could have looked very different with slightly better execution.
Gill’s own role as captain has been steady. After being criticised for being reactive at Leeds, there has been visible clarity in his decision-making, with regards to team selections or batting on in the second Test to extend the lead that physically tired out the England fielders. One decision, though - India’s lack of a declaration on day three at Lord’s - has been debated. Choosing to give England just one over late in the day left them with little time to exploit the tired legs of the batters after they had fielded in searing heat. Whether more overs, with a buzzing Indian slip cordon, would have led to wickets is hypothetical, but the decision limited that opportunity.
The incident itself has led to questions. Did Gill’s aggression and his interactions with Crawley disrupt his own rhythm when he walked out to bat on day four? With 193 to get and two wickets out early, England, persuaded by head coach Brendon McCullum, turned up the chat, as they were constantly in the batter’s ears. Gill could only play out nine balls before he was dismissed lbw. Was he trying to “act” and imitate Kohli’s style of playing as Jonathan Trott implied after the third day? Unlike with the former, who thrived in battles with players, did Gill get this one wrong?
The temptation to draw a straight line between the two exists, but it is not a convincing one. This was not the first time Gill had expressed himself. He was vocal on social media during the 2023 World Test Championship final when a contentious low catch ended his innings, and had an animated exchange with James Anderson last year, wherein he suggested the pacer should retire. He then had a confrontation with Jonny Bairstow, with the two asking each other how many centuries they had in the series. In this IPL too, as captain of Gujarat Titans, he showed signs of visible frustration in tight moments, often arguing with the umpires when decisions went against his team.
That said, there have been moments where verbal battles have seemed to affect him. Against Australia, he was unsettled after brief exchanges with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, and fell soon after. Even Anderson dismissed him on the next delivery following their run-in. His dismissal at Lord’s has invited similar observations. At the same time, his hundred in the under-19 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan in 2018, in a game where he admitted to being sledged constantly, suggests he can also channel those emotions productively.
The question isn’t whether Gill should be aggressive, but how he balances it. Kohli, too, didn’t get it right all the time. He later admitted that aggression didn’t always come naturally to him - like his heated exchange with Bairstow in 2022 or his go at the stump-mic in South Africa later that year. He also regretted incidents like the shoulder barge with Sam Konstas, but the difference is that Kohli had the experience to know when to push and when to step back, with the latter half of his career being a far cry from the finger-flipping teenager that he once was. Gill is still figuring that part out, and if the new India captain can learn to pick his moments better, the aggression can remain a useful tool without affecting his batting rhythm or decision-making.
But, whatever be the case, it’s too soon to call Gill’s approach a success or a failure. He is still new to captaincy, adapting both his game and leadership style in real time. For long, as a younger member in a senior-dominated setup, it’s possible that Gill held back, remaining quieter, less expressive, more measured. Now, as captain, the typical Punjabi munda (boy from Punjab) finally has the space to lead and play as he wants, and we are only just beginning to see what that version of him looks like.
He is also yet to fully prove himself as a Test batter, averaging 35.05 before the series began. There's also a question mark still on how he fares on trickier pitches. It’s hard to say with certainty whether it was the on-field aggression or simply the match situation that affected him at Lord’s.
What matters is whether this approach brings results over time. If it leads to more missed chances and tighter losses, questions will continue. But if the batting can soar, and the team remains competitive, Gill’s version of leadership may yet prove effective - expletives and all.
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