The tension between India and England keeps on building as the fourth Test will be held on Wednesday at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. But just ahead of the match, England skipper Ben Stokes has made it clear that they are fully prepared to stand their ground if things get heated.
While addressing the media in a pre-match press conference, Stokes acknowledged the rising competition and intensity between both the sides. England are already leading the series by 2-1 and Ben Stokes will be aiming to clinch the series.
There were several instances in the Lord’s Test which have led to this build-up. Things got heated when Shubman Gill lashed out at England for wasting time and was involved in an on-field confrontation with Zak Crawley. Then Mohammed Siraj was fined after his spat with Ben Duckett and Jofra Archer gave Rishabh Pant an emotional send-off, as did all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja with his exchange with Brydon Carse.
“I don’t think it’s one of those things where we’re going to necessarily just go out and start at it. I don’t think either teams, you know, really look to do that. I think there’s just always going to be a moment in a Test series where something does heat up, it’s a massive series.”
“There’s a lot of pressure on both teams to go out and perform. So, look the environment when you’re out there. Obviously, there’s gonna be some moments and some heat showing. Obviously, that night when Zak and Ben had to go out just sort of started it off and we had the advantage of bowling last in a Test match to win. So we just threw everything that we possibly could at India, not only with our skills but also with their energy in the field as well,” said Stokes.
“It was a real nice moment I think as a team that, when you speak about something like that, and then everyone buys into that. As I said, it’s not something that we’re gonna purposely go out and look to start again because then that’ll take our focus off what we need to do out in the middle. But by no means that, we’re not going to take a backward step and let the opposition try and be confrontational towards us and not try and give a bit back.”
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“I think that goes for most teams, to be honest anyway, so it’s not like we’re the only team who does that,” said Stokes.
