England captain Ben Stokes has warned India against any aggressive behaviour, stating that the hosts won't take a step back in that case. For the unversed, things got heated in the middle during the Lord's Test when the Indian players, especially skipper Shubman Gill, confronted England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett for wasting time on the third day in the final session.
In the aftermath of it, England came out aggressively, defending their target of 193 runs successfully to take a 2-1 lead in the series. However, Stokes also stated that the home team won't start sledging while also conceding that the series has been immensely competitive so far and that pressure is also there on both teams.
"I don't think it's one of those things where we're going to necessarily just go out and start at (sledging). I don't think either team's really looked to do that. I think there's always going to be a moment in a Test series where something does heat up.It's a massive series and there's a lot of pressure on both teams to perform," Stokes said in the pre-match press conference.
Quality of cricket has been outstanding, says Stokes
Moreover, Ben Stokes also cautioned his team stating that they won't jut go out to be aggressive as it would take their focus off the game and in turn affect their performance. The English skipper praised both teams for playing quality cricket over the course of 15 days of this series so far.
"As I said, it's not something that we're going to purposely go out and look to start because then that will take our focus off what we actually need to do out in the middle. But by no means, we're not going to take a backward step and let any opposition try to be confrontational towards us. And not try to give a bit back. I think that goes for most teams, to be honest anyway. So, it's not like we're the only team who does that.
"But the series has been great to play. It has been great to watch. All five days, all three Tests so far. Quality of cricket has been outstanding," Stokes added.
