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Shubman Gill Argues With Umpire For An Early Ball Change; Pant Stays Out After ICC Sanction

Abhinav Tyagi

Gill Requests A Ball Change - (Source : @Johns/X.com)Gill Requests A Ball Change - (Source : @Johns/X.com)

Play on Day 5 of the first Test between India and England is underway at Headingley. The hosts got off to the perfect start, with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley stitching together a 100-run opening stand—putting England on course for a comfortable win.

On the other hand, frustration grew for Shubman Gill and his team as the bowlers failed to provide a breakthrough in the first session, despite overcast conditions.

Shubman Gill Complains to Umpire Regarding Ball Change

Just 14 overs into England’s second innings, Gill approached the umpire, requesting that the ball be changed as he felt it was out of shape. The umpire did not pay heed to the appeal and allowed play to continue.

Eventually, Shardul Thakur also expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the ball and complained to the umpire, but once again, the appeal was rejected. Luck finally favored the visitors in the 27th over. During a third appeal, the ball failed to pass through the ball-measuring gauge and was replaced.

Much to the fans’ disappointment, however, the umpire replaced the ball with another used ball rather than a new one.

Rishabh Pant Stays Out of the Conversation

While Gill and the rest of the bowlers were actively arguing over the condition of the ball, vice-captain Rishabh Pant stayed out of the discussion, having recently been sanctioned by the ICC.

Notably, this is not the first time such a situation has arisen in this match—a similar incident occurred in the first innings. On that occasion, Pant engaged in a heated argument with the umpire after their request was rejected and threw the ball away in anger.

This did not go down well with the match referee, and the star batter was found guilty of violating Article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an International Match.”