As Shubman Gill once again failed to leave his mark with the bat in the opening innings of the fourth Test in Manchester, his ongoing rivalry with England appeared to once again be working against the Indian captain. The mood was established during the heated play in the last few minutes of Day 3, which included Gill's dispute with Zak Crawley over deliberate time-wasting and England's late start to the second innings.

In advance of the fourth Test, Gill reiterated his charge that England had violated the "spirit of cricket" during a heated press conference, which sparked both agreement and criticism. Gill seemed visibly nervous from the moment he stepped out to bat on Day 2 in Leeds, suggesting that his off-field explosion is currently affecting his on-field performance.

The English crowd greeted him with boos and jeers, and he was given short shrift when he was taken out by a ball from his counterpart Ben Stokes, which swung hard into the right-hander. Gill was determined to be lbw after not attempting a single shot. He got a 12.

In the days following his sacking, Sanjay Manjrekar and Jonathan Trott talked at length about Gill's attitude, and they both seemed to concur that the episode on Day 3 of the third Test could have had a profound impact on Gill, the batter.

Trott on Gill, Manjrekar

Regarding his dismissal, Manjrekar said that Gill has become "tentative" with the bat ever since the heated argument with Crawley and the subsequent shift in focus toward his leadership.

"The way Shubman Gill got out… he has suddenly become cautious since that occurrence on Day 3," Manjrekar told JioHotstar.

"I'll tell you what, he made an offensive shot before. Although this was a strong delivery that came back in, I'm concentrating on someone who scored a lot of runs in the first few games. Although I don't want to link this (dismissal) with the event that occurred on Day 3, all of a sudden, Shubman Gill is no longer scoring. This is a little bit of reality.

"He's not going through a lengthy stretch of failure, but he's reaching for defensive shots." I see a little hesitation. On Day 3, everything shifted.

"He's a superstar in India, he travels to England, the world is at his feet, and now the world has suddenly changed."

Gill has become a "villain" in the series, according to Trott, who was also a member of the expert panel, and he will need to "bounce back" from the psychological strain.

"Sanjay makes a valid argument, in my opinion. As seen in Day 3, all of a sudden he transformed from a hitter into a bad guy. The focus shifted from his hitting to his leadership of the squad. Without a doubt, the welcome he received today had something to do with his demeanor, according to Trott.

Shubman Gill, the hitter, was the subject of the first two Tests, but he has since made himself a target. You have a positive side, A, and a negative side, B, that you must deal with. We need to see how long it takes Gill to recover from this," said Trott.

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