England Test captain Ben Stokes opened up on the aggression and tempers that flared during the third Test against India at the ‘Home of Cricket’, Lord’s. According to him, despite all the emotions that were shown over the last three days, nobody overstepped the line or cried, “themselves to sleep over what was said or done out” on the field as well.
After a thrilling game concluded with England’s 22-run victory, Ben Stokes opined on the heated on-field atmosphere. He didn’t mince his words and said that it was understandable for emotions and tension to soar high when two teams are playing for victory.
“No, I think in big series like this there’s always going to be a time and a moment where the two teams are going to clash. I’m all for it. I don’t think it really stepped over the line. I think at the end of it, if you think about it, there’s 22 people out there playing for their country. It’s the highest honour that you can do in our given sport. So you can understand that sometimes the emotions and the tension can get quite high,” Stokes told reporters in the post-match press conference.
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However, it all started with India Test captain Shubman Gill sledging at Zak Crawley in the final moments of the third day. He felt the English opener was trying to run down the clock to restrict India the opportunity to bowl a second over as well. Soon, they were involved in an argument and the trend continued for the next two days as well.
“But I don’t think there’s anyone in the Indian dressing room or anyone in the English dressing room that’s going to bed, going to cry themselves to sleep over what was said or done out there. Sometimes it gets a little bit over-egged from an outsider’s point of view. I don’t think it overstepped the line from the Indian team or from our team,” he further added.
“There was always going to be a moment in a series like this when it was going to implode. It wasn’t really boiling up to it, it just sort of happened. But look, that’s the spectacle of England v India, isn’t it,” Ben Stokes concluded.
