Sunil Gavaskar ruthlessly slams Ben Stokes' 'shenanigans' at Manchester: 'If I were the captain...'

Sunil Gavaskar ruthlessly slams Ben Stokes' 'shenanigans' at Manchester

The Test between India and England at Manchester ended in a draw with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar producing a solid fight in the final day of the match. Both batters showed ultimate resilience and turned the tables, forcing Ben Stokes and Co. to give up even before umpires ended the match.

When both all-rounders were in their 80s after escaping the second session, a crucial one, unhurt, hopes rose of an epic draw, which Ravi Shastri on commentary noted "it is nothing short of a win". The feeling was echoed by Indian supporters, especially after starting the second innings trailing by 311 runs and losing the Top 2 even before India could open the account.

KL Rahul and Shubman Gill then did the hard work, added 174 runs for the third wicket, and Jadeja and Sundar ensured they carried the momentum forward, which proved enough to bring England on their knees.

Also Read | 'Kapil Dev won lot of Tests for India in overseas, but Jadeja hasn't': Ex-IND star's blunt take on all-rounder

Ben Stokes, the England skipper, even offered to end the match much before the play was supposed to end but the request was denied. This led to Stokes getting salty, who even sledged Jadeja of reaching the 100-run milestone against Harry Brook and Ben Duckett.

Jadeja showed grace and remained unprovoked from the unwarranted tactics by the opponent. The pair then went to slam their respective tons but their epic knocks was overshadowed by the conduct shown by Stokes towards the end of the match.

Sunil Gavaskar in his column for Sportstar was ruthless in his assessment of the English players and their antics. "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 seemed 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," he wrote.

"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," he added.