'India did the hard work, I wasn't going to risk my bowlers': Stokes on declaration drama

Manchester, July 27 (IANS) England skipper Ben Stokes, who was visibly irritated after India refused to declare for a draw, said he was not going to risk his first string bowlers given the result of the match was decided heading into the final hour.

Stokes offered to shake hands and declare the fourth Test during the final drinks break but with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar nearing their well deserved hundreds, India made England bowl till the duo reached their milestones. However, Stokes employed Harry Brook and Joe Root as the two bowlers, allowing his pace battery to rest.

"All the hard work was done by India and there was only one result ... I wasn't going to risk any of my bowlers, (Liam) Dawsey had bowled a lot of overs and his body was tiring. I wasn't going to risk any of my front line bowlers,” said Stokes in the post-game presentation.

The England skipper scored a century, whilst also claiming five wickets, but claimed he would ‘give this all back to get the result that we wanted.’

After India lost the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan in the opening over, all hopes seemed lost for the visitors. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill stood tall on Day 4 and navigated through the day before Sundar and Jadeja put on a 223-run stand and refused to let the game slip away from them.

Despite the animated moment towards the end, Stokes tipped his hat towards the duo and admitted England threw everything at them but they absorbed the pressure well.

"Heap load of credit for the way Washington and Jadeja played, got to give them a lot of credit. to do what they did for that position. It's been a back and forth series so far, throwing punches at each other, great credit to the way India have kept fighting. We threw absolutely everything at them but they were able to absorb the pressure."

--IANS

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