The final dramatic moments of the Manchester Test have now taken on a different hue. England, led by mercurial captain Ben Stokes, had perhaps let the frustration at not closing out the game get to them and had a spray at Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for not accepting their offer of a draw.
Now their worst fears have come true. Stokes has been ruled out of the final Test due to a shoulder injury and England have chosen not to risk Jofra Archer either. Had they won at Manchester, England would have pocketed the series 3-1, and not worried about not having their captain and the strike bowler on a pitch that reportedly has more live grass than any other track this series. The post-game injury developments help in understanding their late-evening actions at Old Trafford a tad better.
On Wednesday, there was a conciliatory line from Stokes about understanding the Indian batsmen’s decision to bat on. Asked if he had any regrets about the final day of the Old Trafford Test, Stokes tried to put matters in perspective.
“No regrets, but I think it’s one of those where when you’ve not been there in the field for 250 overs, you do have a bit more of an understanding towards both sides. Two lads, Jadeja and Washington, played incredibly well up until that point, so you sort of understand why they wanted to stay out there and get the hundreds,” Stokes said. “We’re over it. I think India are over that whole thing.”
Time will tell, but in the here and now, England have to grapple with Stokes’s absence.
“Disappointed to not be able to finish the series. I’ve got a decent tear in one of the muscles … Obviously, a bit of emotion goes into this kind of stuff when you find out what you’ve done.”
Stokes had bowled through pain during the final day of the last Test, often clutching his shoulder in between deliveries. “I came down here this morning to give myself every chance. Obviously, just to play as a batter, bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results.”
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The England captain had a chat with head coach Brendon McCullum, and spent another 20 minutes ruminating over the decision, he said.
“It’s one of those where you’re weighing up the risk and reward. The risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is. I wouldn’t expect to put anyone else, any of my other players, at risk with an injury like this.
“So I’ll start rehabbing now and focus on what we’ve got coming up in the winter (The Ashes in Australia). Once this series was done, I was feet up anyway, so it doesn’t make too much difference.”
But in the here and now, it has the potential to make a huge difference. Not just because of Stokes’s leadership, but for his outstanding bowling through the series. In the last game, he had also returned to batting form with a hundred.
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Not just Stokes, England have other worries to deal with for the final game. Besides Stokes, Archer, Liam Dawson and Brydon Carse will also miss the series-decider. Their replacements are Jacob Bethell – set to bat at No. 6 – Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue with Ollie Pope captaining the team.
Stokes tried to put a positive spin on the changes.
“That’s the benefit of having a very strong squad and some pretty good cricketers to be able to choose from when we find ourselves in a situation like this. That’s going to give us a very good chance of winning this game and winning the series,” he said. “We’re very confident that we’ve got the ability to be able to win this game and hopefully win the series. Jacob Bethel comes in, bats down at six. There’s been a lot of talk about him, a lot of hype about him.”
