Former England captain Nasser Hussain has reacted to England's head coach Chris Silverwood's comments after the second Test defeat. India had defeated England by 151 runs at Lord's to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
Silverwood had said that his team is up for 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," he 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 am enjoying it."
But Hussain doesn’t think it is likely that England will be able to "bully" India and get under the skin of the Virat Kohli-led side. He is confident that this isn't the Indian team who will get bullied and the ex-English cricketer added that all the Indian players have great self-belief.
“Nothing England can do will bully them now even if Chris Silverwood has said he will fight Indian fire with fire for the rest of this series,” he wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
“This India are not a side who will be bullied, as perhaps previous generations have been. They wouldn't allow themselves to be bullied by Aussie players or crowds — when Tim Paine said, "Wait until we get you to the Gabba", it just spurred them on.
“That comment from Paine was aimed at a player who hasn't featured against England, Ravi Ashwin, but he is another who will be as feisty as they come if he plays in the third Test at Headingley on Wednesday. All their players have great self-belief,” Hussain added.
The 53-year-old lauded Kohli and credited him for changing the attitude of the current Indian cricket team. He called the India skipper the right man to lead the 'formidable Indian side'.
“Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead this formidable India side. His players, in particular the bowlers, want an aggressive captain. They want Kohli stirring things up, as he did so effectively in that brilliant second Test at Lord's.
"Jasprit Bumrah has always seemed, to me a quiet and reserved character off the field, but look at the way he attacked and went after Jimmy Anderson on that third evening.
“We saw India winning that way in Australia when Kohli went home to be at the birth of his first child after the first Test. They won then with Ajinkya Rahane in charge but it was Kohli who set the tone for that famous series victory and he's doing it again now,” Hussain added.
(With Daily Mail Inputs)
