Former England opener Sir Geoffrey Boycott lashed out at the England team, especially captain Ben Stokes, over the ‘handshake’ controversy on Day 5 of the fourth Test against India in Manchester. He also added that England should not blame India for wanting to continue batting when they opted to do so, especially when they were in a good position.
In his column for The Telegraph, the veteran reminded that both Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja deserved their hundreds.
He wrote: “What goes around comes around. England were gobby enough when it suited them so you can’t blame India for wanting to stay on and allow two batsmen who had worked their socks off to reach their hundreds. If you give it, like England do, then you have to be able to take it. I could hear them through the stump mics chipping away at India so why should they be nice to them and agree to go off when England have had enough? These India players are tough cookies. They do not take a backward step.”
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“There is no way I would have let anyone drag me off on 89 after I had worked hard all day to save the game for my team. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar rightly deserved their hundreds. They left the ball well, played with the full face of the bat and defended their wickets at all costs. Well done. I’m not sure what it is with modern players. You hear a lot of them mouthing off. It never really happened when I was playing. It will carry on at the Oval and India will go there thinking they got a win at Old Trafford,” he further added.
He also felt the draw brutally exposed England’s bowling weaknesses and warned that Ben Stokes can only do so much, especially due to his fragile body as well.
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He wrote: “You learn more from failure than you do from success. And we failed to bowl India out. The draw highlighted the deficiencies in our bowling. If you think about it, when your best bowler in both innings is the England captain, who is a batsman-bowler, something is not right.”
“Every time Stokes bowls he makes something happen. It’s a gift. You are born with it, you can’t teach it. It is wonderful. But if they are going to rely on him all the time, then as a bowling unit England are in trouble. He is 34 and needs to take care of himself. As much as he would like to bowl long spells, the coach has to tell him to manage himself more. It is better him bowling a bit less and staying fit than bowling more and getting injured. The same for Archer because England are in danger of making the same mistakes again,” Sir Geoffrey Boycott concluded.
