London, Jun 18 (IANS): West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel said that his comments towards England captain Joe Root during the St. Lucia Test in 2019 was blown out of proportion and is now in the past.

"To be honest that was in the past," Gabriel said in a virtual interaction with reporters in the run-up to West Indies' first Test against England.

"I don't really think about it too much. Whatever happened or whatever was said, I don't really want to harp on about that, I'm just looking to the future now. I've just come here to play good cricket if selected, and do my best for West Indies cricket."

Gabriel is in the reserves for the squad that will tour England for a three-match Test series, which will be the first since the cricket calendar grinded to a halt in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 32-year-old was accused of homophobia after Root was heard telling him that "there's nothing wrong with being gay" following a mid-pitch altercation. Gabriel later claimed that he had asked Root "do you like boys?"

It resulted in Gabriel being slapped with a four-match ban.

"I just think the way they dealt with it was blown way out of proportion," he said. "The story that was told was not entirely true, but I just want to move on and forget that."