‘Looked silly’, Nasser Hussain on England’s antics when Jadeja, Sundar were close to scoring centuries

Reacting to Indian batters’ decision to complete their respective centuries in the fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy test against England that was heading for a draw, former English captain Nasser Hussain slammed England Captain Ben Stokes, calling out his ‘silly’ behaviour in bowling Brooks when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were poised to score centuries.

“I didn’t have a problem. England seemed to have a problem with it, they were a little bit tired, tired bowlers, tired legs. They wanted to get off. The two lads have worked hard to get into the eighties, they wanted Test match hundreds,” Hussain reasoned.

“Stokes didn’t have to bowl Brook, and it looked a bit silly at the end there, but we make far too much of these things. They played well, they deserved a draw, they deserved to be there at the end,” he added.

During the final drinks break of the fourth Test, England captain Ben Stokes proposed ending the match in a draw with a handshake. However, with Ravindra Jadeja batting on 89 and Washington Sundar on 80, approaching their well-deserved centuries, the Indian duo opted to continue batting until both players reached their individual milestones, leading to visible frustration from Stokes.

The situation escalated into a heated on-field exchange, marking a tense conclusion to an otherwise hard-fought contest. Moreover, during the post-match customary handshakes, Stokes snubbed Sundar and Jadeja.

After India denied Stokes’ request to shake hands and settle for a draw at the drinks break, Jadeja got his century by dancing down the pitch to whack Brook for six and smacked another full toss from the part-timer for four.

Sundar then smacked Brook over extra cover for four, bringing up 200 of his partnership with Jadeja before a flick got him the two runs needed to raise his first Test century.

Immediately after, the players shook hands for real to end the game in a draw, with India being the happier side, thanks to epic match-saving innings from Rahul, Gill, Jadeja, and Sundar keeping the visitors’ hopes alive in the five-match series.

(with inputs from syndicated feed)