If you thought the sledging at Lord’s was over and done with, think again.
When asked, 'Can we expect more of it in Manchester?' England's Harry Brook said, 'Oh God knows, we'll see what happens. But yeah, we saw them guys going at Creeps (Zak Crawley) and Ducky (Ben Duckett). So we had a little chat and we thought, 'We're a team, so we may as well combine each other, get together and yeah, go back at them.'
And this is what Mohammed Siraj had to say when asked if he enjoys sledging.
"I think as a player, I'm thinking, 'What do we need here? The player needs sledging.' So I meant to go and talk (say) something and then the player does something new, (a) different shot, because he's playing so defensive. So I thought maybe doing something, (by) talking, (the batter would be) thinking about, 'Okay, coming up, I'll try to do something different, (different) shot. It's the only thing."
Reporter: "Will we see more of it do you think?"
"Yes. (laughter)"
So, gear up because this was just the beginning. This isn’t just a Test match anymore; it’s cricket meeting combat. Manchester is ready to explode.
On one hand, England has a golden chance to seal the series. On the other, India arrives with revenge in their eyes — and fire in their sledges. And England knows it.
Ahead of the 4th Test, Brook was asked: "After what happened at Lord's, do you feel you've got them on the ropes? You've got them rattled?"
But England isn't taking India lightly. "I wouldn't say so. Like I said, India is such a good side that they can bounce back at any stage. We saw that after beating them at Headingley, they bounced back and had an excellent performance at Edgbaston. So yeah, we've got to go out there, try and do our thing and hopefully it's better than theirs," said Brook.
Lord’s was just Round One. A few words, a few stares, a few tempers flaring.
But Manchester? That’s where the real fight begins.
