Ben Stokes: I wouldn't have stayed out to chase personal milestones
England offered to shake hands with 15 overs remaining on the final day at Old Trafford after Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, on 89 and 80 respectively, had saved India from defeat. The batsmen refused and faced five overs from Harry Brook and Joe Root, waiting for Jadeja to bring up his fifth Test hundred and Washington his first.
Stokes did not want to risk any frontline bowlers with the fifth Test starting on Thursday at the Oval, and so turned to Brook, the only genuine unused option, who dropped as low as 35mph in serving up free hits for Jadeja. The England fielders barely acknowledged the landmarks, which Jadeja and Washington celebrated heartily, and suggested they would lack meaning.
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