The final day of the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford saw England captain Ben Stokes offering the handshake to Indian batsmen Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar prior to the last one hour of the Test with the Indian batsman refusing so and deciding to continue. With Stokes and other England players targeting Jadeja and Sundar with comments like ‘You want to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook?’ and other comments, Jadeja and Sundar went on to complete their hundreds before they decided to agree for the draw. Former Indian captain and legend Sunil Gavaskar has called the English team including Stokes for their ‘whining’ tactics.
“Towards the end of the Test, a few grumpy English players were unhappy that the batters at the crease, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, declined the offer to end the day’s play when England captain Ben Stokes proposed it at the start of the final hour. Instead, they opted to bat on and complete their hundreds. The England players felt that, since there was no chance of a result, the Indians should have accepted the offer to conclude proceedings. They seem to forget that two teams are playing out there, and if one decides to continue, the other simply has to accept it. They made sarcastic remarks about the batters, who were in their 80s, getting to their centuries off the bowling of a batter. What they overlooked was the hard work and resilience the batters had shown against frontline bowlers for over four hours to reach the 80s. If they wanted a hundred for their efforts, England should have denied them with proper bowlers rather than whining about them getting there against Harry Brook,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Jadeja and Sundar stitched together an unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 202 runs to deny England a win to take a 3-1 series lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India had started the final day of the Test trailing England by 137 runs with eight wickets in hand in the fourth innings and needed to survive the day to have any hopes of not losing the five Test series. While India lost KL Rahul and captain Subhuman Gill, Jadeja and Sundar made sure that India were placed safely with 75 runs ahead of England with six wickets in hand before the start of the last hour. With Indian batsmen playing for five more overs, which also saw Jadeja and Sundar complete their hundreds, it meant that a frustrated England team targeted the Indian batsman with verbal comments. Gavaskar also shared how if he was the captain, he would have told the batsmen to play out the remaining overs. “A Test century isn’t easy and doesn’t come every match, so the batters were fully entitled to bat on and reach their personal landmarks — which they eventually did. If I were the captain, I’d have told them to keep batting and play out the remaining overs, tiring out the fielders even more — especially after the shenanigans by the English players once their offer was declined,” wrote Gavaskar.
Post the match, Stokes talked about how he wanted his frontline bowlers not facing the risk of injury and hence the offer for a draw. Gavaskar termed it as the England team wanting everything to be done what they want. “Shubman Gill is a young skipper and a fine gentleman, so after the draw in Manchester, he didn’t ask why England batted on to score over 600 and take a lead of 311. Were they afraid that if the lead was just 250, India might score 500 and then bowl England out for less in the fourth innings? By batting on even after Stokes got his century, England perhaps didn’t leave their bowlers enough time to bowl India out and win the match and with it, the series. Everything cannot be done according to what the England team wants. This is yet another example of that old syndrome: when we do it, it’s right; when the opposition does the same, it’s wrong. Those days are long gone, and no one, least of all the Indian team, is going to simply accept it,” Gavaskar wrote further.
Gavaskar was also of the view that England missed a trick with deteriorating light prior to the final hour. And this would have avoided the controversy. “There’s only a three-day break before the next Test. If England didn’t want two more centuries recorded against them, they could have brought the quicks back on. The natural light was deteriorating, and the floodlights were on. Had Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse been given the ball, the umpires might have intervened and stopped play — so perhaps England missed a trick there,” Gavaskar wrote.
With the last test at The Oval beginning on Thursday, India can still level the series with a win at the venue. Gavaskar also termed the five Test series as a ‘terrific’ series. “These little irritants aside, it has been a terrific series, and the cricket from both sides has been riveting. The fifth and final Test at The Oval will hopefully deliver another thriller to round off what has been one of the finest Test series, a pleasure and privilege to watch,” concluded Gavaskar.
