England batsman Harry Brook has described the heated atmosphere during the Third Test at Lord’s as “fun”.
In what has become a fiercely contested and emotionally charged series, tempers flared on multiple occasions. Indian captain Shubman Gill sarcastically applauded England’s batters over perceived time-wasting, while Mohammed Siraj aggressively celebrated Ben Duckett’s dismissal by roaring in his face.
Duckett and Zak Crawley were also targeted with verbal barbs from the Indian fielders, escalating the on-field rivalry.
Brook revealed England chose to match the intensity after Jasprit Bumrah bowled a solitary over to close out Day 3 – a move seen as a statement of intent.
“We had a little chat and we thought, we’re a team so we may as well get together and give it back at them,” Brook told reporters on Monday.
“It put them under a little bit more pressure.
“I’ve had a lot of compliments. Everybody said it was awesome to watch. It looked like it was 11 versus two out there while we were fielding. It was good fun… it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.”
The Yorkshireman has been in fine form throughout the series, narrowly missing a century in the first Test by just one run before going on to reach three figures in the second.
“India are such a good side, they can bounce back at any stage… every game we’ve played so far has gone into the last hour of the game, which you don’t see very often,” he added.
“I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say, this is a great series… and everybody said that the Lord’s game was one of the best that they have ever watched.”
