Delhi: The third Test between India and England will be played at Lord’s from 10 July. Before this important match, England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brandon McCullum do not want to leave any stone unturned. Both of them held a private meeting with the staff of Lord’s in which the status of the pitch was discussed.

McCullum-Stokes held a special meeting

This meeting lasted for about 20 minutes on Tuesday morning. It was also present in Lord’s head groundsman Carl McDermot, MCC cricket operations director Rob Lynch and England selector Luke Wright. According to reports, the meeting was held after being disappointed with the pitch of Edgbaston Test. In that Test, England lost to India by 336 runs.

McCullum had demanded after that defeat that the next pitch should have more boom, speed and movement. Officers associated with Lord’s ground have assured the England team that the pitch will stand up to their expectations. Stokes described Edgbaston’s pitch as “subcontinent”.

The England team did not practice on Tuesday. Captain Stokes, Coach McCullum and some players preferred to play golf instead. The team resumed practice from Wednesday.

In the press conference before the match, Stokes said that he will give a tough competition to India in this Test and try to win. He admitted that both teams are very strong and the series of defeat and victory will continue. He said, “This series was always going to be the same in which we will be ahead and sometimes India. This is what happens when two strong teams collide. We will get down with full force this week and try to win.”

If we talk about Lord’s record, then India has played 19 Test matches so far on this ground. Of these, only 3 times have won. 4 matches have been drawn and England have won 12 times.