A sweet result called 'DRAW' at Manchester and the Stokes drama !!

It is a game – a religion in India – we grew up seeing and hearing Test matches – slowly were introduced to Limited overs (ODIs) and then came T20 .. .. and of course IPL.  Those who are still addicted to Test Cricket call themselves ‘Connoisseurs’ of the game – they have been watching matches for 5 days (sometimes 6 too !!) – result was not the only thing – this breed could watch the game meandering towards a tame end ! – No result too – called ‘DRAW’ !!  

India played their first Test match, against England at Lord's, in 1932, and was not a force to reckon with for many decades.  Statistically India has played 593 Tests and have won 182; lost 186; one Chepauk Test against Aussies was Tied and 224 were drawn !!  There have been so many drawn matches (224 !) – some were lifeless, some affected by rain, some insipid performances and some .. .. nail-baiting ends though no team actually won !  - wonder, how it could be ??? 

Back in July 1936, exactly on this day (July 28) India’s 2^nd test of the Series against England at Manchester ended in a draw.  India was bowled out for 203; England made massive 571/8 decl – but Indians fought gamely in 2^nd ending up at 390/5.  Creditable indeed.   In striking contrast to what occurred in the earlier test at  Lord's – this one produced several fine individual batting performances on either side. Hammond on his return to the England team was at the top of his form in hitting a faultless 167 and when India batted a second time Merchant and Mushtaq Ali, scoring 203 together, set up a record first-wicket partnership against England in England.   

Decades later witnessed Test no. 918 at Chepauk when Krish Srikkanth was dropped and Pranab Roy (who ?) debuted and partnered Sunil Gavaskar.  Ashok Malhothra touted to be in Gundappa Viswanath mould also made his debut.  That was a Pongal test in 1982.   It was dull dreary though we enjoyed as Indians made runs.  Gundappa Vishwanath played a long innings scoring 222 surpassing Gavaskar’s 221 at Oval.  Graham Gooch too hit a hundred.   For India's third wicket, 415 runs were added by three batsmen: Viswanath, the common denominator, Vengsarkar, who was obliged to retire hurt at 150 when he ducked into a low-flying bouncer from Willis, and Yashpal Sharma, who in 492 minutes of stolid accumulation helped Viswanath add the remaining 316. The entire stand, scored at 3.44 an over, spanned ten and a quarter hours.  The 316 put on by Viswanath and Yashpal was a third-wicket record for India in all Tests, and the highest for any wicket in Tests between England and India. Viswanath batted for 632 minutes, a wristy, rounded innings.   

Years later on Dec 31 1984 was another drawn test.  Mohammad Azharuddin debuted and scored a century. Smog and rain, which restricted play to twenty minutes on the second day, followed by Gavaskar's perverse decision to continue India's innings from 417 for seven at lunch time on the fourth, made certain of a pointless and tedious draw. Gavaskar's lack of ambition, or evident direction, while Azharuddin and Shastri were adding 214 for the fifth wicket at under 2 runs an over, so incensed the crowd that there were fears a riot might develop.  .. .. and Kapil Dev the greatest allrounder had been dropped – citing indiscipline in shot selection in the previous test at Kotla where he was the top scorer in the 1^st innings ! 

The present Series has been enthralling.  The young inexperienced Indian team criticized by some before leaving the shores as the most weak team has shone, especially in batting front.  They have scored runs and played well – the scoreline of 1-2 in 4 tests is not a true reflection.  Much credit would go to Ben Stokes, an elite competitor, who has made runs and has bowled zestfully, more than he usually does.  With back to back Player of the match awards, he has now won 12 !  but lacks grace and feels that British are still ruling the colonies. 

Perhaps he has not been alone – so many English Cricketers, Commentators, Sports writers, News media and commoners feel and behave brash many a times.  On day 5 at 4^th test at Manchester - towards the end – it  all started with Ben Stokes approaching the on-field umpires, Rod Tucker and Ahsan Raza, and the two batters, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, to call the game off. There was only one possible result, a draw. The two Indian batters politely  refused as they were close to their respective centuries and the verbal barrage flowed.

 

Stokes brashly asked  Jadeja, “You want to get a hundred against Harry Brook?” The England captain took the specialist bowlers out of the attack, and the rest of the game saw bowling from Brook and Joe Root.  “You hold your hands up, they played incredibly well,” Stokes said. “But I don’t think there would have been too much more satisfaction from walking off 100 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.  

The teams had been at it for hours, days. At that stage, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja had withstood everything England could throw at them. They were 80 not out and 89 not out, respectively. Washington has previously run out of partners on 85 and 96 in Tests. This would be his maiden Test hundred.  Ben had his options, he could have bowled himself, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Carse, Dawson or Root .. .. but when the draw offer was not accepted, he threw tantrums much like a school child.    

There is no specific morally superior way of playing the game. The laws of the game clearly say you can't consider a game over until the overs are bowled or both captains have agreed on ending the game prematurely.  England felt they were right in offering a draw and India rightly felt that it was  well within their  rights to let the two rescuers go on and have a moment of personal glory on top of a gigantic effort in the absence of their best batter of the last five years, Rishabh Pant.  

Gambhir was categoric. “If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is batting on 85, don’t they deserve a hundred? Would they have walked off? If someone from the England side would have been batting on 90 or 85, if someone had the opportunity to get his first Test hundred, wouldn’t you allow him to do it, if they weathered 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.”  

Australian media showed no mercy to England and captain Ben Stokes after their frustration turned into farce when India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar stalled the offer to shake hands and end the match as they neared their centuries. England’s “moral hypocrisy” was called out, with Stokes branded a “tantrum-thrower” as Aussie media slammed the Poms for whinging about the ‘Spirit of Cricket’.  

Fox Cricket took aim with a headline that read “Spirit… of what? How pompous England exposed Bazball’s great double standard.” The article slammed England’s moral posturing: "England bang on about the Laws of the Game, as written by the MCC at Lord’s. But when opposition teams follow those laws to England’s disadvantage? Time to awaken the ‘Spirit’ again. Give it a prod. Shake some sense into them. Play fair, old boy!"  

Brisbane Times ran a scathing piece titled “Spare us the whinging, England. The only thing embarrassing about Old Trafford was your tantrum.” It highlighted how England, the self-proclaimed saviours of Test cricket, now appear more focused on results than entertainment—an irony not lost on even Steve Smith.   

England who had won a limited Overs World Cup with a throw hitting the bat and going for four and winning by scoring more 4s in the match !  complained about two Indian batsmen getting hundred – calling it just an individual landmark. 

Whatever it be – this was a thrilling draw ! – a result that came from nowhere, when an England win was a foregone conclusion, a formality – after losing two wickets in the 1^st over – Jaiswal and Sai Sudarshan getting out without scoring,  KL Rahul and Shubman Gill added 186; then after Gill’s dismissal at 222/4 -  Sundar and Jadeja took the score to 425 !  

We are very happy with the result and more the manner in which it was achieved.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar.  
28.7.2025