Ben Stokes said he would have accepted a draw from the opposition rather than pursue personal milestones, as India did in a farcical end to the fourth Test.
England offered to shake hands with 15 overs remaining on the final day at Old Trafford after Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, on 89 and 80 respectively, had saved India from defeat. The batsmen refused and faced five overs from Harry Brook and Joe Root, waiting for Jadeja to bring up his fifth Test hundred and Washington his first.
Stokes did not want to risk any frontline bowlers with the fifth Test starting on Thursday at the Oval, and so turned to Brook, the only genuine unused option, who dropped as low as 35mph in serving up free hits for Jadeja. The England fielders barely acknowledged the landmarks, which Jadeja and Washington celebrated heartily, and suggested they would lack meaning.
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“As soon as it got to that point where the draw’s inevitable, I was never going to risk any of my frontline bowlers with the short turnaround that we have and the workload that we’ve got through this week and throughout the series as well,” Stokes said with his side still leading the series 2-1. “As soon as the 15 overs or last hour was there, it was always going to be a shake hands.
“The only other person who’s actually got any bowling workload into them is Harry Brook. But I did have to tell him, ‘Please don’t do anything stupid. We can’t have you pulling a side or doing anything different.’ Naturally, you’re going to be fatigued, even if you don’t bowl. So, I was just like, ‘Get through this period.’ ”
Stokes praised Jadeja and Washington’s innings, combining for a partnership of 203 in 55.2 overs to save the game, and Gautam Gambhir, the India head coach, suggested England would have done the same.
Sundar celebrated his hundred with little reaction from the England skipper
ALEX DAVIDSON/GETTY IMAGES
“If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is batting on 85, don’t they deserve a hundred?” Gambhir said. “Would they have walked off if someone from England’s side would have been batting on 90 or 85, if someone had the opportunity to claim his first Test hundred? Wouldn’t you allow him to do it?”
However, Stokes said the batsmen did not need three figures to make their efforts meaningful. “The situation that India found themselves in there with us opening the game slightly, that partnership was massive,” the England captain said. “You hold your hands up. They played incredibly, incredibly well. 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 or 90 not out. That’s what you’ve done for your team.
“Ten more runs, or whatever it was, isn’t going to change the fact that you managed to get your team out of a very, very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game.”
England v India
Fifth Test, the Oval
Thursday, 11am
TV Sky Sports Cricket/Main Event