‘Like a spoiled kid’: Stokes under over stunning antics as farcical ending sparks debate

England captain Ben Stokes and batter Harry Brook have come under scrutiny for their final-day antics after the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford descended into farcical scenes on Sunday.

The hosts lead the series 2-1 with one match to play following an impressive rearguard from India’s middle order on day five in Manchester.

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Courtesy of a defiant century from captain Shubman Gill and gritty knocks from all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, the contest was edging towards an inevitable draw, so with one hour remaining in the match, Stokes approached the Indian batters with an outstretched hand, offering a handshake to signify a stalemate.

But Jadeja and Sundar, unbeaten on 89 and 80 respectively at the start of the mandatory final 15 overs, were unmoved, along with skipper Gill, watching on from the sheds.

Stokes, who didn’t want to put more overs into his fatigued bowlers, became increasingly frustrated as India refused to agree to the draw, with Sundar and Jadeja copping some verbal barbs from England’s rattled fielders.

“You want to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook?” Stokes quipped sarcastically at Jadeja, who was dropped by Joe Root on 0.

“If you wanted to score a century, you should have batted like you wanted to get it.”

England opener Zak Crawley continued: “Just shake your hand. It’s embarrassing.”

Fellow Englishman Ben Duckett said: “How long do you need, an hour?”

Turns out, they only needed 15 minutes.

THREE centuries help India to draw | 02:09

Stokes, irked by the opposition’s milestone hunting, threw the Dukes ball towards Brook, who in an act of protest produced an assortment of comically poor deliveries, including a low full toss that delicately sailed towards Jadeja at 59km/h. The left-hander brought up his hundred with a six down the ground, at which point Brook attempted to interrupt the Indian’s celebrations by walking up to Sundar and offering a handshake in an act of mockery.

“The England players are not applauding the century here, they are standing with arms folded,” former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said on Sony Sports Network.

England captain Ben Stokes goes to shake hands with India batsman Ravindra Jadeja. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

“I’d ask them to keep batting, and keep the team on the field for the full 15 overs.”

Sundar, having outplayed England and denied the hosts what at one stage seemed like a certain victory, was on 95 when he watchfully blocked a delivery from Brook, who snapped: “F***ing hell, get on with it.”

Another England player yelled: “Just hit a boundary.”

With Sundar on 99, Duckett sarcastically quipped: “This one will mean a lot.”

The match concluded after Washington brought up his maiden Test hundred with a double against Brook, but the farcical final 30 minutes prompted plenty of debate. Speaking on Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain admitted he “didn’t have a problem” with Sundar and Jadeja playing on for their hundreds.

“England seemed to have a problem with it, they were a little bit tired, tired bowlers, tired legs,” Hussain said.

“They wanted to get off. The two lads have worked hard to get into the eighties, they wanted Test match hundreds.”

Asked about the incident during the post-match press conference, Gill said: “It was up to the boys. I thought they both batted brilliantly, both were in their nineties. We thought they deserved a century there.”

Indian coach Gautam Gambhir continued: “If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is batting on 85, wouldn’t they deserve a hundred?

“If someone has the opportunity to get his first Test hundred, wouldn’t you allow him to do it? They weather 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.

“Both those guys deserve a hundred and fortunately they got it in the end.”

'Would they have walked off?' | 00:29

Speaking on Jio Hotstar, former England batter Jonathan Trott claimed Stokes would have accepted the draw if the roles were reversed, pointing out that he has prioritised the result over “personal milestones” during the Bazball era.

“In his mind, the game’s done,” Trott said of Stokes.

“I don’t think England would have had the personal milestones on their mind personally, that’s just my view. Maybe if somebody was close to getting it, their maiden century, it would have been a little bit different.

“You could tell by the way that Ben Stokes has reacted that if they were in the same seat, they probably would have shook the Indian captain’s hand if it was offered – if Shubman Gill went up to the English batsman and they were in the same position, they would have walked off.

“That’s what Test cricket’s about. It’s played hard, it’s played fair, but there’s also a code and a sort of ethos that the game is played with equal respect for each other.”

However, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar accused Stokes of behaving “like a spoiled kid”, claiming that England were “making a mockery of the game” by bowling part-timers to end the match quickly.

“Okay fine, he’s unhappy that the players haven’t walked off, he’ll have to manage his overs carefully with main bowlers already exhausted from bowling long spells whole day,” Manjrekar said.

“But throwing lollipops in the air and showing a little bit of grumpiness out there, that was Ben Stokes behaving like a spoiled kid.

“I can understand him being surprised India wanted to continue ... but everything won’t go as per your wishes – he should’ve handled that better.

“It was Ben, the hero, the champion that I admire, on that occasion behaving like a spoiled kid.”

England captain Ben Stokes applauds. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

Speaking to the BBC after the match, Stokes explained he was eager to wrap things up because of the short turnaround before the series finale at The Oval, which gets underway on Thursday.

“We were willing to take it as far as we possibly could and throw everything at them that we did, but it got to that point where there was obviously only one result left on the table,” Stokes said.

“I wasn’t going to be risking any of my frontline bowlers in a situation like that, especially when we’ve got a quick turnaround.”

Stokes, later named player of the match for his first-innings century and five-wicket haul, also congratulated Jadeja and Sundar on their unbeaten 203-run partnership, which denied England a series-sealing victory.

“The knock that those two played was very, very good,” Stokes said during the post-match press conference.

“The situation that India found themselves in there, with us opening the game slightly, that partnership was massive. You hold your hands up - they played incredibly, incredibly well. And I don’t think there would’ve been too much more satisfaction from walking off a hundred 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. You know, the 10 more runs or whatever it was ain’t gonna change the fact that you’ve managed to get your team out of a very, very, very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game.”

The fifth Test between England and India gets underway at The Oval on Thursday.

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