Cricket is an action-packed game and heated exchanges between players are very common. During the fifth and last Test between India and England, legendary pacer James Anderson and Indian batter Shubman Gill too had shared a heated exchange of words.
Recently, Anderson, in an interview with BBC, revealed what he said to Gill at Dharamsala. On the third day of the Test in Dharamsala, just before Gill had reached his century, he exchanged some words with Anderson.
Spilling the beans in a BBC Tailenders Podcast as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Anderson said that he taunted Gill about his overseas Test record.
"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," said Anderson.
However, when asked about the heated exchange in the post-day press conference, Gill has said, as quoted by Wisden on his exchange with Anderson, " I think it would be better for both of us to keep that chat in private."
Looking at some records, Gill has scored 556 runs at an average of 32.70, with a century and two fifties in 10 Tests away from home. His best score is 110.
His best score at home is 128 in 13 Tests, where he scored 869 runs at an average of 41.38, with three centuries and four fifties in 23 innings.
In the five-Test series, Gill ended as the second-highest run-getter with 452 runs in nine innings at an average of 56.5. He also scored centuries and two fifties, and his best score was 110.
On the other side, legendary pacer Anderson became the first pacer ever to reach 700 Test wickets.
On being asked how he felt after the 700th wicket, he said that it was nice to do at the picturesque venue of Dharamsala with his father around. But added that he he does not play cricket for milestones and winning gives him a "bigger buzz".
"It was a nice moment and nice to do it (take 700th wicket) at a picturesque ground. My dad was here so we had a drink, which was nice. He was more excited than I was," said Anderson.
"Maybe I would have felt more excited if we had won the Test or the series. It has been a long series, and I do not know how I feel."
"I don't get anything out of that (about milestones and whether someone will touch his record). I do not get anything out of what other people say. That is not why I play cricket. I do not play cricket to get the milestones. I want to win games. I love playing for a team and that is when I get the biggest buzz."
"That is why I'm probably a little bit flat now because we have lost 4-1 in this series. But I enjoyed this tour. I have been on tours to India before where little cracks start appearing in the team and that has not happened this time," he concluded.
With agency inputs.
