Ben Stokes stated that things may frequently get heated during such a lengthy series during the pre-match press conference for the fourth Test, which begins on Wednesday, July 23 at Old Trafford, Manchester. Additionally, he said that both sides are under a lot of strain, which occasionally affects how they play.
During the current Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, there have been numerous incidents of violence between Indian and English players. There were multiple verbal altercations between the two teams during the third Test at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
At the end of Day 3, while Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were attempting to take a break from the Test match, Shubman Gill handed them a mouthful. Mohammed Siraj was also given a fine after getting into a furious argument with the opening batsmen. On Day 5, Brydon Carse and Ravindra Jadeja got into a fight as they unintentionally bumped into one other, while Jofra Archer sent Rishabh Pant a fiery farewell.
It’s not something where we’re going to just walk out and start working on it, in my opinion. Neither team, you know, really aims to achieve that, in my opinion. It’s a huge series, and I believe there will always be a point in a Test match where stuff really heats up,” Ben Stokes stated.
Both sides are under a lot of pressure to perform well. So, when you’re out there, pay attention to the surroundings. It goes without saying that there will be some hot spots. We obviously had the advantage of bowling last in a Test match to win, and that night when Zak and Ben had to leave really kind of kicked things off. Therefore, we simply threw everything at India—not just our abilities, but also their enthusiasm on the pitch,” the England captain continued.
We’re not going back: Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes recalled Harry Brook’s remarks regarding England’s too-nice coach, Brendon McCullum. Although he reaffirmed that his squad will not start sledging India because it could divert their attention from the game, the talismanic all-rounder stated it was a good moment for the team as they bonded. He did, however, add that if India stirs up trouble, the Three Lions will return it.
As a team, I believe it was a really pleasant moment when you talk about something like that and then everyone supports it. We won’t intentionally go out and look to start over because, as I mentioned, that will divert our attention from what we need to do in the middle. But by no means will we regress and allow the opposition to attempt confrontation against us without making an effort to reciprocate. To be honest, I believe that applies to most teams, so it’s not like we’re the only one,” Ben Stokes added.
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