The draw for India in the fourth test at Old Trafford sparked an animated exchange between the two teams and now, Sunil Gavaskar added fuel to the fire with a scathing tactics and the attitude of England. The dough and the veteran commentator of India welcomed India resilience after being reduced to 0/2 in the second round, finally ending the last day with only four counters lost thanks to the centuries of Ravira Jadeja and Washington Sundar. “I am extremely proud of this team for what they did. Just four counters. Yes, whatever the land – good land, flat land, anyway – to stay under pressure,” said Gavaskar on Sony Sports Network. The decision of the Indian strikers to fight, even after the result, was clearly upset in England. The skipper Ben Stokes handed over the ball to Harry Brook, who was touched for a six by Jadeja while he celebrated his one hundred. When Brook offered a handshake to Sundar shortly after, the dough seemed to ignore it.
England players were seen taunting the Indian duo, wondering if Jadeja wanted to go to her one hundred against Brook and Duckett. Gavaskar, however, turned the tables. He questioned the tactics of England, in particular their delayed declaration. “The question can be asked-has England beat too long before declaring?” Said Gavaskar. “When India gave them over 600 years to continue in Birmingham, some England players said they were afraid. But in India, they said, “Give us 600, we will continue”. So what happened now? It was just a bravado. Just noisy discussions. He also excavated in the post-match defense of Stokes which he posed his quantities before the final test at the oval.
Survey
Do you think that the tactics of England were questionable during the fourth test at Old Trafford?
“So now, Shubman Gill – if he is at the press conference – I would like him to ask: Why did you take the lead of 311? Why not declare at 240 or 250 after Stokes obtained his hundreds? Give your quantities an additional hour to take counters. I hope he requests it,” said Gavaskar. “I know he won’t do it. He’s too nice.“” Gavaskar’s ardent words only add to the atmosphere loaded between the two parts and the sharp challenge of the approach of England before the decision -maker of the series.
Oh yeah, brilliant idea, declare after Ben Stokes, because thats totally how the Hundred will be decided. Sarcasm aside, the format doesn’t allow that, so this talk is just for clickbait.
Haha, next they’ll declare after the snacks break too. The Hundred already under 100 balls, so you can’t declare; the talk is bigger than the scoreboard.
Not sure why people make big drama out of a non exisiting thing in the Hundred, declarein isn’t part of the format, so this is a silly argumment. Stop the drama and focus on matches results.
Love this take, it bring fresh perspecive on the Ben Stokes idea. It shows how debates about declarations can keep cricket excitin, even in The Hundred!
Oh great, a declaration after Stokes is the thing this hundred needed, said no one ever. The whole point is that Hundred games don’t work with declarations, but the article pretend this is a big tactic to discuss. Ironically this talk makes more noise than the actual play.
Interestingly, The Hundred format prohibits declarations; The conversation around Ben Stokes shows how fans inside a game overshadow the actual rules. We should realise there are more modern strategies than ‘declare’.
In The Hundred there is no declare option, each team get 100 balls per innings, so you cant end the innings early by declaring. Declarations are a feature of Test cricket not limited overs formats. So the whole debate is more hypothetical than pratical. Gavaskar’s comments are being described here as ‘loud talk’ of England, but the rules stay the same regardless of opinions.
Look, this whole declare after Stokes idea is not just ignorent it’s wrong for the format. Declarations don’t fit The Hundred, you can’t surprize teams by ending the innings early cause there’s a fixed number of balls. If you want a good analysis, bring numbers, not drama. The article just chase headlines instead of explaining what actually happend in the game.