Ben Stokes breaks silence on Crawley's heated on-field clash with Gill in the Lord's Test

The third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ended on a thrilling note. In what turned out to be a see-saw affair for both teams, the game progressed till the final day and stretched all the way down to the final session. India, battling it out on their last legs, found themselves on the cusp of a rare victory as Ravindra Jadeja stood tall. He batted valiantly with the tail across two sessions, but India failed to get over the line as Siraj was castled by a ripping off-spinner, which bounced a bit more on him.

Amid the sizzling rivalry, the game also witnessed numerous flashpoints. The one that stood out the most was Crawley's heated exchange with the Indian skipper Shubman Gill. Crawley's delaying tactics in the final moments of day three irked the close-in Indian fielders. As England tried to get through to stumps without losing a wicket, Indian pace-bowling stalwart Jasprit Bumrah seemed to be in the mood to cause some last-minute hiccups. But his efforts were thwarted as England deliberately resorted to finding ways to delay the proceedings towards the end of day four. 

See also: ENG vs IND: 3 players who could replace Karun Nair for 4th Test at Old Trafford

Stokes issues a chilling warning to Gill after the heated incident

Following England's stunning win at Lord's, England skipper Ben Stokes broke the silence on the heated on-field clash which took place between Crawley and Gill. He pointed out that if two openers walk out to the middle to face one over and get swamped by 11 odd people, it is bound to trigger an equal and an opposite reaction. 

“When you're watching your two opening batters go out there for an over, and you're seeing 11 guys all come at [them], that's going to bring out another side.”

As fate would have it, India found themselves on the receiving end at the fag end of day four. English fielders gave it back to the tourists and mocked Rahul and Akash Deep for deliberately wasting time. India's nightwatchman Akash Deep deliberately asked for the assistance of the physio in an effort to delay the proceedings and take India to stumps without further damage. As a result, Deep was removed by the English skipper during the final over of the day. 

Towards the end of the test match, all the tension died down as Stokes went up to Siraj and hugged him in a bid to console the pacer. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja, who got a half-century, was also hugged by Stokes.