Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has gone on to take a wild dig at the English skipper Ben Stokes for the misconduct with Indian batters during the closing stages of the 4th Test in Manchester.
The Indian legend slammed the English skipper for his roguishness aimed at stopping Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar from getting to their respective stunning hundreds, despite 15 overs remaining in the final Day’s play.
Sunil Gavaskar sheds light on England’s derogatory actions at the end of Day 5
Ben Stokes offered a handshake to Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who instead turned it down after a similar decision pointed out by the skipper, Shubman Gill.
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The English captain and players looked displeased with the decision, as they started unnecessary sledging and later handed the ball to Harry Brook to bowl lollipop deliveries so that the Indian batters could reach their hundreds quickly.
“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,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“..play out the remaining overs” – Gavaskar shows an unforgiving attitude towards English misbehaviour
Gavaskar slammed Stokes for disrespecting the greatness of the innings played by the two batters, as he should have rightly opposed their centuries with overs from his regular bowlers instead of making a bowler bowl who is not even given the status of a part-timer.
“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,” Gavaskar seemed disappointed with the English misbehaviour.
“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.”
He mentioned that if he had been the captain, he would not have let England slip away easily, as he would have urged the batters to play all of the remaining overs to toil the English bowlers further.
“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,” a stern attitude portrayed by the former Indian legend.
‘Talk is cheap’ – Sunil Gavaskar slams English batters further
Sunil Gavaskar next made another point while speaking to Sony Sports Network, as he exposed the hypocrisy of the English batters. He picked up some references from the post-match scenes at Birmingham after England lost the 2nd Test.
“At one of the media conferences after the defeat in the second Test in Birmingham, some England players, trying to be funny, asked why India set them a target of over 600. They even went so far as to say that India was scared they’d chase anything above 450.”
“The fact is, when they were on a high from scoring piles of runs on flat tracks and fast outfields in Pakistan, they even boasted ahead of the India tour last year that they could chase down 600.”
“Well, talk is cheap, and when given the chance to put their money where their mouth is by chasing over 600 in Birmingham, they ended up losing by 336 runs. Yes, they didn’t even get to 300 while boasting of chasing over 600,” claimed Gavaskar.
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