India's batting coach's befitting reply to Ben Stokes' 'subcontinent pitch' remark ahead of Lord's Test, says 'Whenever our bowlers bowled...'

India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak came up with an epic reply to Ben Stokes' comments regarding the pitch at Edgbaston, which he had described as behaving like a ‘subcontinental’ surface.

Sitanshu Kotak reacts to Ben Stokes' 'subcontinental pitch' comment

India bulldozed England by 336 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston. Following England's drubbing their captain Ben Stokes, drew additional criticism when he referred to the pitch in Birmingham as 'subcontinental'. Stokes' comment was not well-received by many fans, who accused the English skipper of attempting to find an excuse for his team's heavy defeat.

During India's pre-match press conference on July 8, India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was questioned about Ben Stokes' comment. In response to Stokes' characterization, Kotak firmly stated his position. He asserted that the Indian bowlers effectively exploited the conditions at Edgbaston, which ultimately enabled the team to achieve their historic maiden victory at that venue.

Elaborating on his response to Stokes, Kotak pointed out that the ball exhibited movement even on the fifth day of the third Test.

“Personally, it didn't look like a subcontinental wicket to me. Whenever our bowlers bowled, the ball moved. Even in the second innings, the ball was moving even after 40 overs. On the last day, maybe, the ball was turning a little. When you prepare such a hard wicket with grass, it won't create rough but it will have footmarks, which help with the turn. I think they tried to make a hard batting wicket,” Kotak said at the pre-match press conference ahead of third Test between India and England which is slated to start from July 10 at Lord's.

This is what Ben Stokes earlier said

“To be honest, it’s probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it got deeper and deeper into the game. There was certainly a little bit in it to start off with and I think we exposed that very very well early on,” Stokes had said during a conversation with BBC.

“Then just as it sort of got deeper and deeper, it just became a real tough slug for us and obviously with the Indian attack and the conditions that they’re used to, they were sort of used to and knew sort of how to expose those conditions just sort of a little bit better than us and that can happen sometimes. But yeah, it’s nothing to be too disheartened about. We can take being out-skilled and we’ve certainly been out-skilled this week,” Stokes had added.