England captain Ben Stokes points finger at India after refusal to shake hands
Ben Stokes fanned the flames after India refused to shake hands on a bore draw to let two batters reach their hundreds, saying: 'They had done the hard work.'
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar's unbroken 222-run stand thwarted England as the fourth Rothesay Test at Old Trafford petered out. But they insisted on playing on into the last hour, with Jadeja on 89 and Sundar on 80, even though England skipper Stokes had withdrawn all his big guns from the attack.
After India closed on 425-4, losing just two wickets in the last 142 overs, Stokes was asked if he would have pulled up stumps with two of his batters within sight of three figures - in Sundar's case, a maiden Test hundred.
He said: 'That partnership was massive, they played incredibly well, but I don't know if there would have been too much more satisfaction walking off 100 not out than 80 or 90.
'Ten more runs or whatever doesn't make a lot of difference when you have saved your team from defeat. I think all the hard work had been done. It got to that point where there was only one result and there was absolutely no chance I was going to risk any injuries to the fast bowlers with one more game to go in four days.
'We threw absolutely everything at them, and they were able to live up to the pressure.'
Stokes, named player of the match for the second successive Test after his 5-72 and 141 in the first innings, admitted he was feeling 'pretty sore' after managing to bowl only 11 overs yesterday because of a sore bicep. But he is determined to declare himself fit for Thursday's final Test at The Oval with England leading the series 2-1, saying: 'I'm not going to lie, I have been better, but pain is just an emotion.
'I am an all-rounder and it has been a big week this week with overs and spending a bit of time out in the middle, and the workload has obviously gone up.
'But with our wanting to eat my words, the likelihood that I won't play at The Oval is very unlikely. It's been a big five or six weeks, but I'll always try to run through a brick wall for the team.
"When you put in good performances for the team, the joy is dictated by how you feel at the end of the Test and the result. Obviously, I'd give away the bottle of champagne and the medal in a heartbeat if we were on the right side of the result.'
India captain Shubman Gill, who scored his fourth century of the series, defended India's decision to bat into the last hour so Jadeja and Sundar could both complete their hundreds. They did so against some joke bowling and after snubbing Stokes' offer of handshakes at 386-4.
Gill said: 'A Test hundred is a Test hundred at the end of the day - we thought they deserved a century and we thought three or four (more) overs isn't a lot of overs.'
India coach Gautam Gambhir concurred: 'Would they (England) have walked off if one batter was on 90 and the other was on 85? Both those guys deserved a hundred.'
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