Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, offered a strident defence of his side as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar – much to England’s annoyance – hit centuries in a bizarre finish to the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford.
After Jadeja and Sundar batted resolutely to rule out an English win, Ben Stokes offered to shake hands with 15 overs remaining on day five. But with both batters approaching three figures – Sundar on 80, Jadeja on 89 – India continued to bat.
Stokes, wishing to rest his frontline bowlers, brought on Harry Brook, who dished up some helpful offerings to the pair of southpaws. He conceded 24 off three overs, the contest concluding with Sundar reaching his maiden Test century.
“You hold your hands up, they played incredibly well,” Stokes said. “But I don’t think there would have been too much more satisfaction from walking off 100 not out, getting your team out of a tricky situation, than walking off at 80, 90 not out. That’s what you’ve done for your team.
“Ten more runs or whatever it was ain’t going to change the fact that you’ve managed to get your team out of a very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game.
“We took the game as far as we could with our frontline bowlers. As soon as it got to that point where the draw was inevitable, I was never going to risk my frontline bowlers with the short turnaround that we have and the workload that we’ve got through this week and throughout this series as well.
“I did have to tell [Brook]: ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’ We’ve spent a lot of time out in the field, can’t have you pulling a side or doing anything different.”
Gambhir thought differently of the situation. “If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is batting on 85, don’t they deserve a hundred? Would they have walked off? If someone from the England side would have been batting on 90 or 85, if someone had the opportunity to get his first Test hundred, wouldn’t you allow him to do it, if they weathered the storm? It’s up to them. If they want to play that way, that’s up to them. I’ve got nothing more to say.”
Stokes endured a significant workload during the Test. While he celebrated hitting a century and taking a five-wicket haul, the all-rounder grimaced through his spell on the fifth morning. Asked how he was feeling, he replied: “Mentally, decent. Physically, been better.
“It’s been a pretty big workload so far in the series. Another big last week at Lord’s, the time I spent out in the middle with bat in hand and overs bowled. And then same again this week. I said a few times to the guys out there: ‘Pain is just an emotion.’ It’s just one of those things.”
Stokes did not offer complete certainty over whether he will play the final Test at the Oval, which begins on Thursday, although – through a confusing use of words – suggested he will be present as England aim to secure a series victory.
“You look at how long we’ve been out in the field and the overs that we bowled as a bowling unit, everyone’s going to be pretty sore and pretty tired going into the last game of the series,” Stokes said.
“I think there will be an assessment of everyone and hopefully we can use these next two to three days’ rest wisely and then have to make a decision.
“These recovery days are going to be pretty important and we might have to make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in. But that won’t be decided until we get closer to the last game.
“I don’t want to eat my words, but the likelihood that I won’t play is very unlikely.”
