“We'll come out hard this week looking for a win” - Ben Stokes issues a warning to Team India

England skipper Ben Stokes is confident of his team putting up an impressive show in the third Test against India at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, starting from Thursday, July 10 in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

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In his pre-match press conference, the English captain asserted that England never took India lightly and assured that his side would come back hard at the Indian cricket team to take a 2-1 lead by the end of the third Test of the five-match series.

While England managed a comfortable five-wicket win in the 371-run chase in Leeds in the opening Test, they failed to live up to the expectations in the Birmingham Test, losing the game by 336 runs to settle for 1-1.

To improve their pace attack, England, led by Stokes, have already included Jofra Archer in their playing XI for the third Test. Interestingly, Archer is coming into the XI after a gap of four years in Tests.

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"This was always going to be a series with ebbs and flows - two strong teams going at each other. We came out on top at Headingley; they did at Edgbaston. I don't think we feel we've got the edge over anyone - we respect our opponents at all times. But we'll come out hard this week looking for a win," Stokes said in the pre-match press conference.

On the other hand, Stokes’ batting form is a major concern for the team management before moving to the Lord’s Test. In four innings so far, the English captain has managed to post only 86 runs with the willow, which includes a duck.

However, Stokes is hopeful is a big score coming from his bat in the ongoing series. Notably, Stokes smacked a second innings century against Australia at this venue in the Ashes 2023, and he would be hoping to emulate it.

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"That was two years ago, so I'm pretty much over that now. But yes, hopefully there's another big score just around the corner," Stokes added.

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