"We thought this is the right time to give it back" - Harry Brook's huge statement on fiery moments at Lord's ahead of 4th ENG vs IND 2025 Test

Star England batter Harry Brook believes the Indian players going hard at Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at the end of the third day of the third Test at Lord's played a massive role in their thrilling victory. After the two teams played to level terms by scoring 387 in their respective first innings, the England openers walked out to bat for seven minutes on the third evening.

However, as is usually the case under such circumstances, Crawley used time-wasting tactics to minimize the number of overs faced, much to the disgust of the Indian players. Skipper Shubman Gill had a fiery exchange with the England opener, and ultimately, only the lone over from Jasprit Bumrah was bowled.

The hosts picked up steam from the incident as they bowled India out for 170 in their defense of 193 on Day 5.

When asked about the tense moments between the players of both sides at Lord's, Brook said at the press conference ahead of the fourth Test (via Revsportz YouTube channel):

"We try and play in the spirit of the game as much as possible. Their lads went hard at Crawley and Duckett on that night when Bumrah bowled that single over. We watched that and we reassessed, and we thought this is the right time to give it back to them."

He added:

"We saw them guys going at Crawley and Duckett, so we had a little chat, and we thought 'We are a team', so we may as well combine with each other and get together and give it back to them. It looked like there was 11 vs 2 out there when we were fielding, and it was good fun. It was tiring, but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable."

The 22-run win at Lord's helped England capture a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series over India.

"They ended up crumbling" - Harry Brook on India failing in their run-chase at Lord's

Harry Brook believes the tension between the teams added pressure on India in their run chase on the final day at Lord's. Despite chasing under 200 and producing stellar batting performances for most of the series, the visitors' batters succumbed to 82/7 on the morning of Day 5.

However, a defiant 61* from Ravindra Jadeja and valuable support from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj helped India stave off embarrassment.

"It put them under a little bit more pressure chasing a low score on a tough pitch. It might have given them a bit of added pressure, and thankfully, they ended up crumbling and we won the game," said Brook (via the aforementioned source).

Trailing 1-2, Team India must win the fourth Test at Manchester, starting on July 23, to stay alive in the series.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran