“We're not going to take a backward step” - Ben Stokes issues a fresh warning to Shubman Gill after Lord’s sledging episode

England captain Ben Stokes has issued a fresh warning to the Indian team, led by Shubman Gill, stating that his team will not purposely go out to have on-field confrontations with the visitors. However, he added that his side will not back down from it either.

Notably, Gill was involved in an on-field confrontation with English opener Zak Crawley on the third day of the Lord’s Test as the latter was wasting a lot of time for Indian bowlers to bowl only one over instead of two before stumps.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Stokes asserted that both sides will come into the Manchester Test with a lot of pressure and tagged the series as a massive one. However, he noted that there would be moments in the series where something does heat things up.

"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,” Stokes said at the pre-match press conference.

"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," he added

Furthermore, Stokes revealed how the whole team played as a unit after the Gill’s on-field heated moment at Lord’s as the hosts went on to win the game by a narrow 22-run margin to lead the series 2-1 with two more games to go.

Stokes stated that his side will not purposely go out and look to resume the sledging episode, as it might take their focus off. However, he assured that his team will not take a backward step if the opposition tries to come out at them.

"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,” Stokes noted.

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