England Men’s managing director, Rob Key, reckons that Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were within their rights to carry on batting and get to their respective hundreds on the final day of the fourth Test match between England and India played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.
Jadeja and Sundar batted more than two sessions to help India save the Test match and keep their hopes alive in the series. India won the final Test at the Oval to level the five-match series 2-2, having lost at Headingley, Leeds, and Lord’s, London.
“So, and I thought that was great drama. I think the game needs that at times and you don’t want it to go over the top of course, you know, like that. And sometimes people just go a little bit too far at times, but I just saw that added to the drama. Then you had the wickets on the next night when Stokes got that wicket. I think the night watchman, whatever it was and it just made I just love the fact that it was a talking point for everything… Those guys (Jadeja and Sundar) played brilliantly, and they deserve their hundreds as well,” Key told Sky Sports.
England captain Ben Stokes looked visibly upset when both the Indian batters refused to shake hands at the start of the mandatory overs in the final hour of the fourth Test, with the possibility of a result near impossible. It was only after both batters reached their respective landmark that the players proceeded for the customary handshake, calling a halt on the proceedings that resulted in a draw.
“I didn’t care about that at all. I mean, for someone who hated fielding, if I’d been in the field for two days and then they’re going to carry on and I’d be like, ‘Oh, please. I’ll give you anything. What do you need? Just, you know, like, please, just get me off this field.’ So, I sort of understand where they come from,” he added.
“In a way, I quite enjoy the fact that it creates so much of a story, you know, and then it takes it on into the next game, which is half the thing, isn’t it really? Anything that sort of drives a bit of attention to the game is good, you know, and all that stuff that happened. I loved that. What happened that night at Lords, I thought that was one of the best parts of that whole series, you know, when Zack Crawley and Ben Duckett, I mean, we would, you know, we would have done exactly that. I mean, you couldn’t have got me to walk out any slower to face Bumrah for like what one over and then maybe hopefully not two, you know, like I’d have been hobbling, you know,” the former England opener further highlighted.
England won the first Test by 5 wickets at Headingley, Leeds, but India came back strongly at Edgbaston, Birmingham to level the series 1-1. The Lord’s Test went England’s way as India succumbed under pressure, falling 22 runs short of the target. The fourth Test match saw India bat out of their skins to stay alive in the series, going into the final Test at the Oval, trailing 1-2. India won the last Test by 6 runs, bringing an end to a series that will forever be etched in cricketing folklore.