Former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed Ben Stokes for his “silly” reaction after he tossed the ball to Harry Brook in what seemed like a mark of protest.Drama unfolded during the high-intensity Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy match in Manchester on Sunday after Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar declined England skipper Ben Stokes’ offer to call off the fourth Test and settle for a draw before the start of the final hour of play.Having worked hard to earn a creditable draw, Jadeja and Washington — batting on 89 and 80 respectively — flatly refused Stokes’ offer after he had approached the umpire, which irked the England captain no end.“I didn’t have a problem with it. I mean, I know England seemed to have a problem with it,” Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports.“They’re a little bit tired — tired bowlers, tired legs — they wanted to get off. The two lads had worked hard to get into the 80s and 90s; they wanted Test match hundreds.“Stokes didn’t have to bowl Brook, and it looked a bit silly at the end there, but we make far too much of these things. They played well, they deserved a draw, they deserved to be there at the end.“All credit to India. It’s only England’s second-ever draw under this Bazball regime — the other one on this ground as well, because of rain. This one was a draw simply because England couldn’t roll over the two left-handers, who were brilliant.”
Poll
Do you agree with Nasser Hussain’s view that Ben Stokes’ reaction was ‘silly’?
Stokes had a few words to say, and Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were also seen enquiring as to why India wanted to carry on.“Do you want to score a hundred against Harry Brook?” Stokes asked sarcastically, to which Jadeja simply replied, “I can’t do anything.”A smiling Jadeja maintained his grace and ticked them off, as India — in accordance with the rules — were well within their rights to continue batting.In what seemed like a mark of protest, Stokes introduced Harry Brook into the attack, and Jadeja hit him for a six to complete his third Test hundred.
