Dale Steyn plays Devil's advocate, but did India really stretch the draw too far?

India Today

6 days ago

Ben Stokes' England has received heavy criticism from fans and cricket pundits alike over their handshake saga. The English side, which has often projected themselves as the guardians of the gentleman's game, came under fire for asking Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to skip their individual milestones (hundreds) and put curtains on the 4th Test match at Manchester.However, both India batters, who were approaching their hard-fought hundreds, declined the request of a mutual handshake, frustrating the England side, who by that time knew that they had let the game slip out of their hands.advertisementStokes's act saw him get criticised by former England captain Alastair Cook, who blasted him on BBC. Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was not kind as well, as he slammed the English team and their captain on his YouTube channel.
While the majority of the cricketing world took India's side in the argument, former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn offered a contrasting view on the incident."The only issue I see here is the one thing people aren't realising, the batters weren't playing for 100s, they were batting for a DRAW. That was the goal. 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?" Steyn tweeted on Monday, July 28.
Why Manchester Draw Felt Like a WinStill being the longest and the slowest amongst the three cricketing formats, Test cricket continues to harbour an incredibly passionate fanbase for the nature of the battle it offers. While T20 is quick and offers instant gratification, Test cricket demands endurance and sacrifice. In the 21st century, the whites continue to carry more pride than the coloured, sponsor-laden jerseys of the glitzier format.Ask former India captain Virat Kohli, whose passion for the Test format oozed out even after winning the elusive IPL title, one that had teased him for 18 long years.Kohli said in his post-final speech that the feeling of winning the IPL was great, but it was still 5 rungs below a Test match victory.'This moment is right up there with the best moments I have had in my career, but it still marks 5 levels under Test cricket, that is how much I love Test cricket and that is how much I value Test cricket. I would just urge the youngsters coming through to treat that format with respect,' said Kohli after RCB's win.'Because if you perform in Test cricket, you walk around anywhere in the world, people look you in the eye, shake your hand and say well done, you played the game really well. So if you want to earn respect in world cricket all over, take up Test cricket, give your heart and soul to it and when you walk out with wonders the other side, then you gain respect to the cricket world with legends like yourself,' he added.advertisementAnd that is perhaps where the draw in Manchester felt like a win. India were down and out on Day 4 after losing 2 wickets for 0 runs. But they did not bow out and continued to fight for their survival, keeping the series alive.As we head to London for the decider, one thing is clear — England were psychologically broken in Manchester. They had let a straightforward win slip out of their grasp and might just feel the remnants of it in the final game at The Oval.And that could not have happened if India had drawn curtains on the game on Ben Stokes's terms.- Ends