Stokes & Co behaved like denied children

Ravindra Jadeja during his 61 not out vs England at Lord’s on Monday. Pic/Getty Images

It is rare for a high-profile cricket series not to have its share of needle. But what happened on the final day of the Old Trafford Test between England and India on Sunday was probably beyond the realms of a mature game of Test cricket. England captain Ben Stokes and a few of his men behaved like kids being denied a packet of jelly beans after they urged Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to shut shop for the day when the gritty batsmen were within striking distance of their respective centuries.

Pundits pointed out that Stokes & Co landed a mighty blow on the spirit of cricket with their actions. The Englishmen's behaviour attracted severe condemnation from even those who don't believe in the spirit of cricket.

Stokes has been credited for revitalising English Test cricket (if not cricket in other parts of the world) through his implementation of Bazball, a term coined by an English journalist to describe England's aggressive brand of cricket encouraged by their head coach Brendon ‘Baz' McCullum.

At the post-Test media conference, Stokes justified his actions by saying he wanted his bowlers to be fresh for Thursday's final Test at the Oval. Here is where maturity, or the lack of it, comes in again. Did Stokes free himself of cricketing sense by not realising that it's not the opposition's problem if he had to call upon his irregular bowlers to keep his main bowlers fresh for the series-decider?

The fact is that this inexperienced Indian team, under ton-happy Shubman Gill, their 1-2 scoreline notwithstanding, have got under Stokes's skin. What Jadeja and Sundar did with the bat was commendable, courageous and canny. Let's not forget India lost their first two wickets in the second innings for no runs on the board.

Stokes recognised that, but the verbal acknowledgement doesn't make up for the churlish behaviour he and his gang dished out on Sunday.