The Windies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel received a warning by the two on-field umpires for allegedly abusive language against England captain Joe Root during Day 3 of the St Lucia Test on Monday. While it hasn’t been clarified that what exactly was said by Gabriel, the stump mics caught a banter between the fast bowler and the England skipper, which ended with Root saying: “There is nothing wrong in being gay.”

The incident took place in the 44th over when England was cruising at a decent pace at 138 for 2 with Root and Joe Deny at the crease when both players ran into some kind of “interaction”. As of now, Gabriel managed to get away with just a warning and no official action has been taken against him. According to the reports of Daily Telegraph, match referee Jeff Crowe was content that the matter was taken care of by the field itself by umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena.

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However, Root seemed reserved while commenting on the incident while addressing the media at the close of play, although he did mention that Gabriel could have said something he “might regret”.

Talking about the same, Root said, “Sometimes people say things on the field that they might regret, but they should stay on the field. It’s Test cricket and he’s an emotional guy trying to do everything he can to win a Test match. He’s a good guy who plays hard cricket and is proud to be in the position he is. The battle was a good contest, he’s had a wonderful series and he should be proud.”

West Indies interim coach Richard Pybus said he was unaware of the comment but it will be addressed if deemed unfit. He said that till now nothing has been reported to him. He also added that the comment was made and the team management will review that and if it was untoward, they’ll be addressing it.