London: England legend Geoffrey Boycott has backed Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for choosing to continue batting late on the final day of the drawn fourth Test, saying they had ‘worked their socks off’ and fully deserved their hundreds.
Drama unfolded Sunday when the Indian duo, batting on 89 and 80 respectively, declined England skipper Ben Stokes’ offer to settle for a draw before the start of the final hour.
With the game meandering towards a stalemate, Stokes approached the umpires to initiate the handshake protocol, but Jadeja and Washington opted to carry on, having batted resolutely to pull India out of trouble after conceding a 311-run first-innings lead.
“What goes around comes around. England were gobby enough when it suited them, so you can’t blame India for wanting to stay on and allow two batsmen who had worked their socks off to reach their hundreds,” Boycott wrote in his column for British daily ‘The Telegraph’.
“If you give it, like England do, then you have to be able to take it. I could hear them through the stump mics chipping away at India, so why should they be nice to them and agree to go off when England have had enough?” he added.
Jadeja and Washington batted out more than two sessions to rescue India from the brink of a heavy defeat, stitching together an unbeaten 203-run stand for the fifth wicket to force a draw.
“These India players are tough cookies. They do not take a backward step. There is no way I would have let anyone drag me off on 89 after I had worked hard all day to save the game for my team,” Boycott wrote.
“Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar deserved their hundreds. They left the ball well, played with the full face of the bat and defended their wickets at all costs. Well done.”
The former England captain also criticised current players for excessive sledging.
“I’m not sure what it is with modern players. You hear a lot of them mouthing off. It never really happened when I was playing. It will carry on at the Oval and India will go there thinking they got a win at Old Trafford,” he wrote.
Boycott also took aim at England’s bowling unit, which failed to bowl India out on a fifth-day pitch after racking up 669 in the first innings.
“You learn more from failure than you do from success. And we failed to bowl India out. The draw highlighted the deficiencies in our bowling. If you think about it, when your best bowler in both innings is the England captain, who is a batsman-bowler, something is not right,” he wrote.
While lauding Stokes’ effort with the ball, Boycott cautioned against over-burdening the all-rounder.
“It was a tremendous effort from Ben Stokes but apart from Jofra Archer at times, the rest were ineffective,” he wrote.
“Every time Stokes bowls he makes something happen. It’s a gift. You are born with it, you can’t teach it. It is wonderful. But if they are going to rely on him all the time, then as a bowling unit England are in trouble.
“He is 34 and needs to take care of himself. As much as he would like to bowl long spells, the coach has to tell him to manage himself more. It is better him bowling a bit less and staying fit than bowling more and getting injured.”
England currently lead the five-match series 2–1.
The fifth and final Test begins Thursday at The Oval.
PTI
