Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has strongly backed his batters’ decision to stay on the crease and complete their centuries, even as English skipper Ben Stokes wanted to end the match with a handshake.
After losing their first two wickets with no runs on the board, Team India saw KL Rahul and Shubman Gill stitch together a big partnership that lasted over 60 overs on Day 4 of the Manchester Test.
While India could not practically win the Test, the duo were expected to continue their stand to help secure a draw. Unfortunately, both Rahul and Gill were dismissed in the first session of play on Day 4, and England looked favourites to win the match once again.
However, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar stuck around for a 200-plus run partnership, batting for two full sessions to ensure only a draw was a likely outcome. Realising this, English skipper Ben Stokes decided not to put any more pressure on his bowlers and suggested a handshake to end the match ahead of schedule.
As Jadeja was batting on 89 and Washington Sundar on 80, the Indian batters refused the handshake, wanting some kind of reward for their hard-fought innings in the form of centuries. The English team, however, were not pleased. Stokes and his teammates immediately began trying to convince the Indian players to change their minds, with the England captain even suggesting Jadeja could bring up his ton against part-time bowler Harry Brook.
Both Jadeja and Sundar did get to their respective centuries in coming few overs and the match eventually ended in draw once that was done with Stokes still not looking pleased with how things had turned out.
Gautam Gambhir on Manchester Drama:
Speaking in a post-match press conference, Gambhir said, “If someone is batting on 90, and the other is batting on 85, don’t they deserve a hundred?”
“Would they have walked off? If someone from England would’ve been batting on 90 or 85, and had the opportunity to score their first Test hundred, wouldn’t you allow them to do it?” he added
“See, it’s up to them. If they want to play that way, it’s up to them. I think both of those guys deserved a hundred, and they got it,” the Indian coach further stated
