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'Not scared of a little fight. If India push us, we push them back': England head coach Chris Silverwood
England head coach Chris Silverwood said they are not ‘scared of a fight' and they would ‘push India back’ if they try to push them.
The Virat Kohli-led Indian side may have got the better of England both with bat and ball and also on verbal duels but the hosts’ head coach Chris Silverwood is not ready to let the intensity go down. Silverwood said England are not ‘scared of a fight' and they would ‘push India back’ if they try to push them.
“The one thing we’re not scared of is a little bit of a fight,” Silverwood said. “They push us, we push back, to me it creates great Test cricket. We’re disappointed with the result, but what a Test match to watch. There has been a little bit of fire in there, emotion from two sets of proud players representing their country. I think it’s great, the guys are getting stuck into this fight and I’m enjoying it.”
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The second Test at Lord’s, which India won by 151 runs after staging a dramatic comeback on the last day, was also played in high intensity. There were multiple instances of players from both sides getting involved in verbal arguments.
The fact that India, Jasprit Bumrah in particular, targeted James Anderson with a barrage of short-pitched balls in the first innings, did not go down well with the England camp.
They decided to give it back to Bumrah and Shami when it was their turn to bat. But it backfired. In captain Joe Root’s words, they should have done things differently instead of bowling bouncers trying to intimidate the Indian tail rather than focussing on getting them out. Bumrah and Shami put on a record 89-run unbroken stand for the ninth wicket which took an England win out of the equation.
“Emotions ran high, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, they targeted Jimmy in that first innings, we went back hard at them as well, and we tried to go toe to toe with them. Maybe it got away from us a little bit when the lower order was in. We’ll learn from that,” Silverwood said.
The England head coach, however, said urged his players to keep the passion going when they take on India in the third Test at Headingley starting from August 25.
“What I don’t want to do is to lose the passion. I want us to keep that passion and use it in a real positive way. I’d say it gives you energy, it gives you fuel. The good thing is we’ve got a bit of space now, between this Test finishing and Headingley, so they can go home, spend a bit of time with their families, calm down a little bit, clear their minds and come back fresh,” he added.
