Stokes Hails Jadeja, Washington's Resilience; Late Tons Seal India's Test Draw

England captain Ben Stokes acknowledged the crucial role played by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in securing a draw for India in the Manchester Test. He emphasized that their individual scores were secondary to the impact of their partnership on the game's outcome.

Jadeja and Washington celebrate centuries in the final session. © Getty

The left-handed duo united on the final day just before lunch, facing a daunting task. Jadeja, given a reprieve early in his innings, and Washington, displaying remarkable composure, batted through 55.2 overs. Their 203-run stand proved pivotal in steering India to safety and maintaining the possibility of a drawn series.

As the final hour commenced, Stokes presented India with the option of a draw. However, with Jadeja at 89 and Washington at 80, the Indian team opted to continue batting for an additional five overs. During this period, Jadeja achieved his fifth Test century, and Washington celebrated his maiden ton.

The situation took an unusual turn as the match's suspense dissipated. England turned to part-time bowlers, including Harry Brook, while India's batsmen focused on reaching their centuries after a day of intense battling.

"The knock that those two played was very, very good," Stokes commented during the post-match press conference, highlighting the significance of their partnership.

He further elaborated, "The situation that India found themselves in there, with us opening the game slightly, that partnership was massive. You hold your hands up, they played incredibly, incredibly well. And I don't think there would've been too much more satisfaction from walking off a hundred not out, getting your team out of a tricky situation, than walking off at 80, 90 not out. That's what you've done for your team. You know, the 10 more runs or whatever it was ain't gonna change the fact that you've managed to get your team out of a very, very, very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game."

Stokes clarified that deploying Brook and Joe Root with the ball was a strategic decision. With the team having spent 257 overs in the field and facing a quick turnaround before the Oval Test, preserving the frontline bowlers was paramount.

"We were willing to take it as far as we possibly could and throw everything at them that we did, but it got to that point where there was obviously only one result left on the table and I wasn't going to be risking any of my frontline bowlers in a situation like that, especially when we've got a quick turnaround," he explained.

"The only other person who actually has any bowling workload in them is Harry Brook. But I did have to say to him, please don't do anything stupid. We've been out in the field for 200-and-whatever overs, we've got a quick turnaround, so just do what needs to be done. I said don't do anything daft: don't pull a side, don't pull a hamstring. We knew what was going on there."

From the Indian perspective, there was empathy and celebration. Both Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill believed the batsmen deserved their centuries after withstanding relentless pressure. "If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is batting on 85, wouldn't they deserve a hundred? Would they have walked off if someone from England side would've been batting on 90 or 85?"

"If someone has the opportunity to get his first Test hundred, wouldn't you allow him to do it? They weather the storm. It's up to them. If they want to play that way, that's up to them. I've got nothing more to say. I think both those guys deserve a hundred and fortunately they got it in the end."

Gill, reflecting on his first series as captain, emphasized the significance of the draw. India had been chasing the game from the beginning, and the fifth-day pitch was challenging, particularly for right-handers.

"Day five wicket, something keeps happening, every ball is an event," he said. "We wanted to play ball by ball, take the game as deep as possible. That's what we spoke about."

"Every match going up until the last session of the last day ... so many learnings. Each Test match teaches you something different, four matches as a group has also taught a lot. Hopefully, we can draw the series if we win the next match."