The final hour at Manchester in the fourth Test between India and England has sparked considerable debate over what India should have done or how England should have reacted. Many former players have shared their views on the incident, and former Australian cricketer Brad Haddin also offered his opinion, stating that he liked what India did on the final day.
“It’s interesting at the end of that Test match because India were two for none. So England are up and about. They thought they were going to win the Test. And that was an unbelievable partnership. Gill once again, KL Rahul was outstanding. And as the game went on, and India showed tremendous fight, unbelievable, the application they showed to bat,” Haddin said on LiSTNR Sport on YouTube.
“Then, all of a sudden, it got to a situation where England said they can’t win, so let’s stop the game. So everything’s got to stop because England are done playing. I like what India did, mate, they earned the right to stay out there as long as they need to. They had the right to get a hundred. And just because it didn’t go England’s way and they didn’t get the answer that they wanted, all of a sudden, they’re not happy,” he added.
What happened?
With one hour remaining on Day 5, England skipper Ben Stokes approached India batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, offering a handshake to signify a draw. However, the two Indian batsmen refused, forcing the match into the mandatory last 15 overs. This led to a verbal spat between Stokes and his teammates targeting Jadeja and Sundar, but both Indian batsmen would complete their centuries before agreeing to the draw five overs later.
“There’s a facility to end the game. Take the bails off because it’s a farce. Would you want to get your (100) if you’re on 80, would you want to get your maiden Test match century against law books?” said former England cricketer David Llyod said speaking on The Overlap’s cricket. “I think the umpire, the game, there’s a facility in the game to call a stalemate, of which Ben Stokes called the stalemate, ‘we can’t win this game, they (India) can’t win the game,’”he added.
