Ravi Ashwin slams England’s ‘double standards’ over ‘handshake saga’ in Manchester Test
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Ravi Ashwin slams England’s ‘double standards’ over ‘handshake saga’ in Manchester Test")
Ashwin slams England’s ‘double standards’ over ‘handshake saga’ in Manchester Photograph: (Others)
Jadeja was batting on 89 and Sundar on 80 when Stokes subtly approached Jadeja to end the game, which was going nowhere (outcome-wise) and eventually ended in a draw.
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed the England Cricket Team’s double standards following the handshake saga that made headlines late on day five of the just-concluded Manchester Test. After Ben Stokes offered to prematurely end the game at Old Trafford by approaching Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for a handshake, only for them to deny and later complete their respective hundreds, irking tired Stokes and England, Ashwin called out the English captain for his strange tactics. While Stokes explained in the post-match presser as to why he did that, Ashwin tore into him for feeling distressed over something that’s not under the game’s laws.
Jadeja was batting on 89 and Sundar on 80 when Stokes subtly approached Jadeja to end the game, which was going nowhere (outcome-wise) and eventually ended in a draw. After Jadeja refused to do it, Stokes and he got involved in an exchange of words, with several English players also jumping onto the scene, forcing the Indian all-rounder to agree to play out a draw. Although the ace Indian star did so later on, not before he completed his second Test hundred in the UK and let Washington complete his maiden, with India scoring 425 for four in their second innings.
"Have you heard the term double standards? They played your bowlers all day, batted you out and suddenly, when they're nearing hundreds, you want to walk off? Why should they?" Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. "They have played all your bowlers since morning and taken it to a draw. They have worked hard, so you want them to leave their hundred?"
"If I were the Indian captain, I would have played the entire 15 overs," Ashwin said.
‘You bring Steve Harmison…’
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Stokes took a jibe at Jadeja when he refused to shake hands with him, saying, “You're going to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook (part-time bowler)?”
To which Ashwin said, “You want to make a hundred against Harry Brook? He has to make a hundred. You bring Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff, bring any bowler - they didn't object, it was your call to bring Brook, not ours. These are Test runs; a century is earned, not gifted. Washington deserved it, Jadeja deserved it. Period."
Ashwin, however, reminded Stokes of how the cricket world doesn’t work around his morals.
"There were two reasons: one, you didn't want to tire your bowlers. Fine. Second, you were frustrated and thought 'If I'm not happy, you shouldn't be either. That's not how cricket works,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, a draw in Manchester keeps India’s hopes of levelling the series alive, with the final game at the Oval offering them another chance to win that game and restore their pride.
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