England didn’t lose. But don’t tell that to the dressing room at Old Trafford. Judging by the darkened mood and sharp words on air and online, you’d be forgiven for thinking India had stolen a series, not held on for a draw.After five intense days of high-quality cricket — with four centuries, spells of hostile fast bowling, and the full texture of a fluctuating Test match — the series finale ended in stalemate. But it was India, weathered but unbowed, who left with their dignity intact. England, meanwhile, seemed to believe they’d been denied something.Denied what? Not victory — but narrative control.With 15 overs remaining and India 386 for 4 — a lead of 75 — Ben Stokes offered to end the game early. But India’s batsmen Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were both in the 80s and opted to play on, hoping for their centuries. Stokes, frustrated, reportedly asked:“Do you want to score a 100 against Harry Brook?”England’s part-time bowler Brook was thrown the ball, and moments later, stump mics caught him snapping: “F—ing hell Washi, get on with it,”as Sundar played out a few cautious deliveries in the 90s. The crowd groaned, and when Sundar finally reached his maiden Test hundred, pushing a limp delivery into the leg side, it was Jadeja who seemed keener to run more. The match ended not with applause, but with muttered words and a curt exchange at the close.Stokes later told reporters: “As soon as it got to that point where the draw’s inevitable, I was never going to risk any of my frontline bowlers with the short turnaround… Naturally you’re going to be fatigued… just get through this period.” In other words: the match had no more meaning, so India should have shaken hands and walked off — milestones be damned.But cricket is not Bazball’s to define. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar had earned their right to play on. That they did so on English soil, with England increasingly impatient to leave, was not gamesmanship. It was cricket. India head coach Gautam Gambhir put it plainly: “If someone is batting on 90 and the other one is on 85, don’t they deserve a hundred?”This isn’t the first time England has struggled to accept a draw. When India held firm at Lord’s in 2021 or chased down 328 at the Gabba that same year, the air was thick with complaint: the tail wagged too long, the batting was too slow, the crowd wasn’t entertained.The irony is rich. Bazball, with all its emphasis on flair and aggression, was supposed to make cricket fun again. But as soon as the opposition reclaims the script — as soon as it stops being England’s show — the tone shifts from swagger to sulk.Test cricket, at its best, is chess played over days — mental stamina, shifting conditions, patient excellence. The draw is not its enemy. It’s often its finest expression of equilibrium. India batted for survival and dignity. England tried everything but couldn’t break them. The final gesture — refusing the early draw — was not an insult. It was an assertion.A hundred is a personal milestone, yes. But it is also a statement: we belong here. We’ve earned this ground.And perhaps that’s what stung the most.(The writer is the London correspondent for The Tribune)
#LondonLetter:Sour grapes at Old Trafford as India holds England
