James Anderson revealed the chat he and Shubman Gill had despite the India batter’s stance of keeping it private.
James Anderson does not share the same stance as Shubman Gill when it comes to revealing details of their sledging incident from Day 3 of the fifth India vs England Test in Dharamsala. Things got heated between Anderson and Gill, and some words were exchanged as the India batter scored his 5th Test century. Jonny Bairstow was the first to bring the incident to light when his conversation with Gill got picked up by the stump mic. “What did you say to Jimmy (Anderson) about retiring or getting dropped and he got you out after that?”
England’s James Anderson celebrates after taking the wicket of India batter Shubman Gill. (AFP)
Gill kept things to himself when asked to reveal his sledge with Anderson. “It will be better for both of us to keep that chat private,” he said. But while the India youngster showed tremendous maturity by refusing to disclose the chat, 41-year-old Anderson spilled the beans and revealed how it was him that got the better of Gill after getting inside his head.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
“I said something to him like, ‘Do you get any runs outside India?’ and he said, ‘It’s time to retire.’ Then two balls later, I got him out,” revealed the England veteran, providing insight into the on-field banter,” Anderson said while speaking on the BBC tailender podcast.
How the Gill vs Anderson duel fared
Anderson castled Gill for 110 during India’s only innings of the Dharamsala Test, but it wasn’t before the Indian youngster had his share of fun. Gill struck four boundaries and a six off Anderson – the latter proving to be a stunning hit. In the 34th over, Gill smoked the first boundary for India when he charged down the wicket to Anderson and walloped him over his head for a six. That is when, as per Gill’s admission, the first words were exchanged. But Anderson’s version is different, who claims to have disturbed Gill’s concentration and knocked his stumps after his century. POW! His lips read after Gill was beaten in defense and the stumps went cartwheeling.
This was the fifth time that Anderson dismissed Gill in Tests – he did it twice in England and twice in India before this back in 2021. But this time around, the contest was a lot more even-sided, with clearly one winner emerging. Anderson played four Tests to finish with 10 wickets, while Gill burned up the charts scoring 452 runs to become the second-highest scorer of the series behind Yashasvi Jaiswal’s tally of 712.
