'I was not going to risk any..': Ben Stokes reveals reasoning behind early handshake offer to Jadeja and Sundar

A Test match between India and England where drama doesn’t unfold is unimaginable. While the Manchester Test did not contribute much to the drama quotient as compared to its predecessors in the series, a controversial episode still sparked right at the end on Day 5. With 15 overs left in the game, England captain Ben Stokes gave up on a potential victory and offered an early handshake to Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who were both batting in their 80s at that time. Considering they were close to getting to the triple figure mark, the batters did not comply with Stokes’ request and kept playing.

However, Jadeja and Sundar did England and Stokes a favour by quickly attaining the remaining runs. As a result, Sundar taking a single off Harry Brook to complete his maiden Test ton was the final action of the day. Stokes’ eagerness to end the match when the Indian batters were close to achieving their milestone did not sit well with Indian cricket fans, and hence, many did not refrain from criticising the England skipper on social media.

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The entire drama of Ben Stokes himself asking for a draw out of frustration.

All that crying when he himself could have declared early yesterday than he did.#ENGvsIND
https://t.co/TypyVrRHJW

— Prateek (@prateek_295) July 27, 2025

Ben Stokes comes out clean about the handshake incident

Following the culmination of the match, Ben Stokes addressed the episode and stated that he did not want to risk an injury to his bowlers as a draw was inevitable at that moment.

“As soon as they got to a point where the draw was inevitable - I was not going to risk any of our bowlers, Just wanted to get through the period without risking proper bowling options.”

Gill on Stokes offering a draw in the final session

India captain Shubman Gill also made his thoughts known on the handshake incident. According to Gill, Jadeja and Sundar batted brilliantly in the final two sessions of the match and hence deserved a century.

“We thought they (Jadeja and Sundar) batted brilliantly, they were in their 90s, we thought they deserved a century there (about the decision to not shake hands).