On the third day of the St Lucia Test, the stump mic caught a part of the duo’s interaction, with Root telling Gabriel, “there’s nothing wrong with being gay.” Gabriel was charged with a breach of ICC’s Code of Conduct following the report from on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Rod Tucker.

Ahead of West Indies’ upcoming three-Test series against England, Gabriel has said that the issue last year was “blown way out of proportion”.

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“The way they dealt with it, it was blown way out of proportion,” Gabriel said. “The story that was told was not entirely the truth but I just want to move on and forget it. That’s the past and I’m looking forward to the future now.

“I don’t really think about it too much, whatever happened…whatever was said. I don’t really want to harp on that too much. I’ve just come here to play good cricket in the series, if selected, and do my best for West Indies cricket.”

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Clarifying that he harbours no ill feelings towards Root, the 32-year-old quick added: “No hard feelings. I’ve come here to play cricket and whether it’s Joe or Ben Stokes or whoever, I’m going to do the best of my ability to get them out. It’s not like I target one player.”

Gabriel has been selected as a reserve player for the England tour but could be added to the final squad if he manages to prove his fitness.