Escape Room Redux: India declines the draw, Stokes ghosts the Handshake, and Jadeja keeps the change

Time of India

a day ago

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At 11:10 AM on Day 4, India were 0 for 2. The deficit? 311. The mood? Funeral. Chris Woakes was on a roll, Old Trafford was clearing space for the victory dance, and Ben Stokes had probably begun mentally drafting the post-match soundbite about intent, fearlessness, and cricket redefined.
By 5:40 PM on Day 5, England were fielding Harry Brook and Ben Duckett. Washington Sundar was raising his bat for a Test hundred. Ravindra Jadeja looked like he was waiting for someone to bring him chai. Ben Stokes? He had already tried to end the match 40 runs earlier — and been declined.
This wasn't a comeback. This was a comprehensive shutdown. India didn't chase glory. They just outlasted the noise.
Let's start where England thought it ended. After being flattened for 669 in the first innings — Ben Stokes with a 141, Chris Woakes looking like 2018 again — India were expected to go gently into the Mancunian dusk.
Instead, they were reduced to 0/2 in four balls. So far, so predictable.
But then came KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, who did something radical: they batted normally. No flourish. No meltdown. Just two full sessions of pure, patient resistance. India ended Day 4 at 174/2 — and England, despite all the swagger and scoreboard muscle, had to walk off without another wicket.
That was the turning point. It didn't look like much. That's what made it lethal.
Day 5 began with England still in control. Technically.
Shubman Gill brought up his fourth century of the series — a record matched only by Tendulkar and Gavaskar. Rahul fell for 90. But the day belonged to Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, two men who didn't so much bat as audit the English attack for structural weaknesses.
They blocked. They nudged. They passed up easy runs. They politely ignored Jofra Archer's stare-downs. And then, somewhere around 386 for 4, with India now 75 runs ahead, Ben Stokes walked over to the umpires.
Time for a draw?
Sure, England were cooked. Their bowlers were cooked. Their egos were medium rare. But there were still 15 overs left in the day. Two batters in their 80s. And a match to finish.
Jadeja and Sundar said, in effect:
'Thanks, but we'll stay.'
Stokes wasn't pleased. Later, he'd tell reporters that had he been in their place, he'd have accepted the draw and not chased 'personal milestones.' This, from the man who reverse-swept Australia into an Ashes loss. But sure, tell us more about humility.
He also asked Jadeja — and yes, this is real: 'Jaddu, do you really want to get a Test hundred against Brook and Duckett?'
Jadeja replied with the kind of grace you only learn from batting 150 balls in the sun: 'I can't do anything.'
Translation: You chose this. We're just finishing it.
The hundred came. Then another. First Sundar, then Jadeja. England, by then, had emotionally checked out. The crowd was done. The fielders were yawning. The pitch was still playing like Day 2.
The final score: 425 for 4.
India batted 140 overs, lost just four wickets, and turned a looming defeat into a stately draw.
Ben Stokes — full credit for consistency — refused to shake hands with either batter at the end. Apparently, playing by the rules isn't 'in the spirit of the game' if you're also scoring hundreds.
Here's what actually happened:
This isn't a comeback arc. This is a slow, surgical burial of hype.
425 for 4.
A dead pitch.
Two hundreds.
And one captain learning — the hard way — that you don't get to declare Test cricket over just because you're bored of it.
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