'Aap Harry Brook ko bowling de rahe ho, aapka galti' - Ashwin slams Stokes for throwing taunts at Jadeja

While the English bowlers toiled hard in the middle, India's Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar did not break a sweat and stood tall at the crease for their 203-run partnership for the fifth wicket during the fourth Test at Manchester. This mammoth stand was crucial in India pulling off a draw and saving themselves from a series defeat for the time being.

While the Jadeja-Sundar duo wanted to call off the game only after reaching their respective hundreds, opposition skipper Ben Stokes threw taunts at Jadeja saying “Do you wanna get a hundred off Harry Brook and Ben Duckett?” Stokes received massive criticism for this from Ravichandran Ashwin. The former Indian cricketer says that Jadeja did not ask Stokes to hand the ball to Brook, and hence, the onus is completely on the England team, not the Indians for accepting an early draw.

“What are double standards? I know you can show some amount of frustration. You can fight with your players, you can throw your helmet. After the game, you can punch the wall in anger, throw your battle, or even do some boxing. Please do it. But you are offering a handshake to draw the game, but because you are yourself frustrated, you can't put it on Jadeja that don't get to your hundred and walk off crying. You are saying, I am unhappy, you don't be happy. How can this happen?” he said on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.

“Boss, they played your Jofra Archer, your Matthew Hoggard, Dominic Cork, Andrew Flintoff. Meaning they literally played your best bowlers on the fifth day for the first couple of sessions, toiling hard for the entire day, so why should they walk away without a hundred? If Stokes is giving the ball now to Harry Brook, it is completely his fault, and not Jadeja or Sundar's,” Ashwin added.

I'd have played all fifteen overs: Ashwin

The legendary India spinner also believes that if he were in Stokes' position, he would have wanted the opposition to play all the fifteen overs remaining in the day. Further taking a dig at Stokes' advocacy for spirit of the game shouts, the Chennai-born says that he should have given the ball much earlier to Harry Brook, if he actually taunted Jadeja for getting a hundred off a part-timer.

“If I was the captain, I would have played all the fifteen overs, instead of asking for a draw. As an international team captain, you are the brand ambassador for spirit of cricket, then you should have bowled Harry Brook for the entire innings. It would have been a great affidavit for spirit of cricket. You would have been the poster boy for spirit of the game,” the 38-year-old opined further.

The two teams will now move into the fifth and final Test of the series. This game will be played at the Kennington Oval, London, starting July 31 and will decide the fate of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, which is currently poised at 1-2 in England's favour.