Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar didn’t hold back in criticizing England Test captain Ben Stokes for his on-field conduct during the final moments of the fourth Test at Old Trafford. After Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar chose to continue batting instead of accepting a draw and shaking hands, Stokes appeared visibly frustrated.
Ben Stokes Criticized for Frustrated Reaction After Jadeja-Sundar Refuse Draw
Manjrekar, speaking on Jio Hotstar, compared Ben Stokes’ reaction to that of a “spoilt child” and accused him of stepping out of line with his behaviour.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 — 𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒋𝒂,” 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒓𝒆𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
He further added that Ben Stokes, having played in India before, should have understood that not every team shares England’s cultural outlook on Test cricket conclusions. According to Manjrekar, India made the right decision to play on, especially since both batters were nearing personal milestones.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒐-𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆. 𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Trott Offers a Different Perspective
Former England batter Jonathan Trott offered a contrasting opinion, defending Stokes’ approach. Trott highlighted that in English cricket culture — especially under Stokes — team results are prioritized over individual achievements.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔’ 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒕.
Despite the controversy, the final day saw India avoid defeat with a resilient, unbeaten 203-run partnership between Sundar (101 not out) and Jadeja (107 not out). Though England couldn’t clinch victory, Ben Stokes was named Player of the Match for his stellar performance — scoring 141 runs and claiming 5 wickets for 72 runs.
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