New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) Australia women’s team captain Alyssa Healy said England had successfully nailed a way to get under India skipper Shubman Gill’s skin during their 22-run win at Lord’s, adding that the hosts’ won’t let of any sign of weakness in the opposition’s captain.

Alyssa’s words came in the light of Gill’s confrontation with England opener Zak Crawley on the last over of day three’s play. Gill lashed out at Crawley during a heated exchange, and even used a few explicit words in the heat of the moment.

When Gill came out to bat in a chase of 193, England’s players didn’t hold back by chirping hugely around the right-handed batter, who never looked settled at the crease and made just six, as India were bowled out for 170.

“I read some stuff about when teams go hard at Gill, that it can rattle him a little bit. So if England have even got half a sniff of that, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen, knowing how successful he was in those first two Test matches. There’s a way to get under his skin a little bit as the captain as well.”

“Teams generally go hard at the skipper. If you get the skipper cheaply, or get under their skin and rattle a few cages in that regard, then you feel like you’re on your way. So if England even sniff a little bit of a weakness there, they’ll ram that home, they’ll go hard,” Alyssa said on Willow Talk Podcast episode on Wednesday.

She also felt India could have fastened the proceedings if they were to have a crack at England’s batters on day three. “When you talk about the game itself, India can’t blow up about Crawley doing that then. When India, right throughout the day before, had a drinks break every 15 minutes, there were drinks being run out.”

“At the end of the day, if you wanted a couple more overs at that England top order, he probably could have sped things up throughout the day,” she added. With India now 1-2 behind, Gill & Co will be aiming to bounce back in the fourth Test starting on July 23 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

–IANS

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