“Stokes debería haber lanzado a Brook para 15 overs, habría sido un gran anuncio para el espíritu de cricket”

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lashed out at Ben Stokes for creating a fuss over India not accepting his offer for a draw on Day 5 of IND vs ENG 4th Test. Shortly before Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja reached their hundreds, the England captain offered to end the game with a handshake. However, both batters decided to decline the offer and batted on until they reached their centuries.

Ashwin slams “spirit of cricket” brand ambassador Stokes

In a video on his You/tube channel, an infuriated Ashwin claimed that India were well within their rights to refuse Stokes’ offer to settle for a draw. Taking a dig at the England captain, the ex-Indian cricketer claimed that Stokes should have bowled Harry Brook for the next 15 overs if he wanted to show that he was the brand ambassador for the spirit of cricket. Ashwin’s remarks come after Stokes decided to use part-time bowler Brook shortly after he was snubbed by the duo of Jadeja and Sundar when he offered a handshake.

“What is the rule? If both captains believe that the game cannot head towards a result, they can shake hands within the mandatory overs and call it a draw. Stokes had two reasons – he didn’t want to tire out his bowlers and he was frustrated and hence did not want the other team to be happy too. The second one isn’t in the rules. If I was the Indian captain, I would have said play all the remaining 15 overs. My question to England is, if you are the brand ambassador for the spirit of cricket, then you should have bowled Harry Brook for 15 overs. It would have been a great advertisement,” Ashwin said.

England Skipper’s Lame Excuse

Post the match got over, Ben Stokes revealed the reason for his frustration. He went on to say that, with The Oval Test only three days away, he did not want to risk an injury to the pacers.

“All the hard work was done by India. Didn’t want to risk my fast bowlers with any injuries towards the end. Liam Dawson bowled a lot of overs too,” the skipper said. “Even before this Test, there were conversations around how much effort and energy have gone into the bowling department. Bowlers will be assessed over the next couple of days.”

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