Manchester Test
'Don't they deserve a hundred?': Gautam Gambhir slams England over 'no handshake' drama in Manchester
Manchester/IBNS: Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has slammed England over the "no handshake" drama that unfolded on the final day of fourth Test in Manchester on Sunday.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir bluntly replied to an English reporter who asked a question related to the drama.
"Don't they deserve a hundred? Would they (England) have walked off in the same situation? Won't we allow someone to get his first Test hundred? They (Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar) weathered the storm..."
"If they want to play in that way, it's up to them. I have nothing more to say. Both those guys deserved a hundred and fortunately they got," the coach said.
The drama occurred in the last hour of the day's play when England captain Ben Stokes and his men proposed to Indian batters- Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar- to mutually call off the match which was heading for a draw.
But Jadeja and Sundar, who were at the cusp of their individual centuries after the day-long fight for India, declined the offer, prompting the English men to be charging at them.
One of the English players was heard telling Jadeja, "If you wanted a 100, you should have batted like it earlier."
"I can't do anything," Jadeja said in response to Zak Crawley's "Just shake your hands" remark.
England, who toiled for five sessions but failed to bowl out India, were looking to not further strain their bowlers and opted for part-timer Harry Brook when Jadeja and Sundar decided to carry on.
Jadeja slammed his fifth Test hundred while Sundar hit his maiden century in a match that on Saturday seemed to be an easy win for England after India were 0-2 in the first over.
India finished at 425-4, courtesy Jadeja's unbeaten 107, captain Shubman Gill's 103 and Sundar's unbeaten 101, when Jadeja and Sundar agreed to the call-off.
Reacting to the drama, England captain Ben Stokes said he didn't intend to "risk" any specialist bowler as the match was headed for a draw.
"As soon as it got to that point where the draw was inevitable here, I was never going to risk any of my front-line bowlers with the short turnaround that we have and the workload that we've got through this week and throughout the series as well," said Stokes.
#WATCH | #INDvsENG Fourth Test | Manchester, UK | On extending a 'handshake' to end the match in a draw, England Men's Test captain Ben Stokes says, "... As soon as it got to that point where the draw was inevitable, I was never going to risk any of my front-line bowlers with the… pic.twitter.com/PznNFziFna
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2025
The five-match series is led by England 2-1 with the ultimate contest to be held at The Oval in London on July 31-August 4.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
