'Draw Was The Goal': Steyn Slams Jadeja And Sundar For Hunting 'Free Milestones'
India's refusal to accept England's offer to end the 4th Test in Manchester prematurely with the contest seemingly heading towards a draw has polarised the cricket world. India have been backed for playing within the rule while England have been called out for 'whining' and forcing other teams to act according to their wishes. Fast bowling legend Dale Steyn though seems to be siding with England claiming that since Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were batting for a draw, the 'gentlemanly' thing to do was to accept Ben Stokes offer for a handshake to end the contest after the duo had ensured that only one result was possible.
Stokes approached Jadeja with a handshake as the play entered the final hour on the fifth day in Manchester, but it was turned down leaving England players bemused. Both completed their well-deserved hundreds before the Test concluded.
South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi bared his support for the Indian team after they exercised their right to not accept England's offer for a draw.
'Why is there such a big deal being made about the Indians choosing not to accept the offer to end the game in a draw immediately? The offer was made..the offer was rejected n they were fully entitled to make their choice. They got their 100s which they worked hard for. Game over," Shamsi posted on X.
'Shamo (Shamsi) this onion has many layers to it, and each one will make someone cry. The only issue I see here is the one thing people aren't realizing, the batters weren't playing for 100s, they were batting for a DRAW. That was the goal," Steyn wrote.
'Draw the game. Once that was accomplished, and a result was out of the question a handshake was offered, that's the gentlemanly thing to do right? It's not then the time to realize they safe and now say no we'd prefer some free milestones… although within the rules, just seems a little, well, odd. That said, they did bat well, and maybe with the last hour approaching they should have been more aggressive in reaching those milestones, at least then, we could all agree, no team tried to out do the other in this weird situation," he added.
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First Published:
July 29, 2025, 08:07 IST
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