Twitter asks Shubman Gill to 'move on' after the altercation with the umpire in Ranji Trophy

There is no doubt that Shubman Gill is one of the rising stars of international cricket. The stylish right-handed batsman was one of the cornerstones’ in India’s success at the U19 World Cup two years ago where his exquisite strokeplay turned heads and compelled fans to compare it with Virat Kohli. Since then, Gill has been consistently performing in whatever opportunities he has got while playing for Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders or India A.

Shubman Gill is being tipped as one of the batsmen of the 2020s. However, the Punjab batsman has started the new decade on a forgettable note. Gill, who normally comes across as mild-mannered bloke, was involved in a heated spat with the on-field umpire during the first morning of the Round 4 Elite Group A & B encounter between Punjab and Delhi in Mohali.

It all came to a head when he refused to leave his crease after the Umpire had adjudged him caught-behind off the bowling of slow-medium pacer Subodh Bhati. Flabbergasted at the decision, Shubman Gill lost his cool and proceeded to get the decision reversed after a heated exchange with the official.

Things didn’t end here though! After the decision was reversed, Delhi players refused to bowl and proceeded to leave the ground when the match referee made a timely intervention. The altercation eventually went in vain as Shubman Gill managed to add just 13 runs to his tally and was eventually dismissed for a 41-ball 23.

What did the witness say?

Speaking about the incident, Delhi manager was quoted as saying by Republic World, “The straight umpire (Mohammed Rafi) had adjudged Shubman caught behind and the batsman then walked up to the umpire and was seen having an argument asking him to reverse his decision. The straight umpire then consulted the square-leg umpire (Paschim Pathak) and reversed his decision.”

“Our skipper (Nitish) Rana just asked the umpires as to why they overturned the initial decision. We never walked out. The match referee (Ranganathan) came in and play resumed as usual,” Khurana added.

Fans ask Gill to ‘keep head down and move on’

Post the incident, Shubman Gill is facing a lot of ire on social media with the fans asking him to ‘keep head down and move on’ after the argument with the umpire. Some fans even suggested the talented Punjab batsman play with the ‘sportsman spirit’ and accept the decisions, even if he disagrees with them.

To be fair, it is a tricky situation. A batsman getting irked after what he thinks is a wrong decision by the umpire is completely natural, but what young Gill has to learn is that he needs to channelize that anger and translate it into runs in the next innings, rather than losing his cool and expressing it with expletives.

Here’s how Twitter reacted