Sunil Gavaskar Brutally Mocks Ben Stokes Over Ravindra Jadeja Handshake Row: "Talk Is Cheap..."

Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has fired fresh shots at Ben Stokes and the England team, following the aftermath of the handshake controversy that unfolded during Day 5 of the 4th Test in Manchester last week. After India batted more than five sessions to take England's win out of the equation, Stokes tried to persuade Ravindra Jadeja to shake hands and call it a draw, but the latter refused to do so, triggering the former and his teammates. Stokes also taunted Jadeja and Washington Sundar if they will score their centuries against part-timers Harry Brook and Joe Root.

Now, Gavaskar has called out Stokes and his men over their hypocrisy, recalling an incident from the Edgbaston Test, which India won earlier this month.

"At one of the media conferences after the defeat in the second Test in Birmingham, some England players, trying to be funny, asked why India set them a target of over 600. They even went so far as to say that India were scared they'd chase anything above 450. The fact is, when they were on a high from scoring piles of runs on flat tracks and fast outfields in Pakistan, they even boasted ahead of the India tour last year that they could chase down 600. Well, talk is cheap, and when given the chance to put their money where their mouth is by chasing over 600 in Birmingham, they ended up losing by 336 runs. Yes, they didn't even get to 300 while boasting of chasing over 600," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar insisted that scoring a Test century is not easy, and had he been the captain of India, he would've asked the batters to play out the remaining overs.

"They made sarcastic remarks about the batters, who were in their 80s, getting to their centuries off the bowling of a batter. What they overlooked was the hard work and resilience the batters had shown against frontline bowlers for over four hours to reach the 80s. If they wanted a hundred for their efforts, England should have denied them with proper bowlers rather than whining about them getting there against Harry Brook. A Test century isn't easy and doesn't come every match, so the batters were fully entitled to bat on and reach their personal landmarks - which they eventually did. If I were the captain, I'd have told them to keep batting and play out the remaining overs, tiring out the fielders even more - especially after the shenanigans by the English players once their offer was declined," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Ben Stokes Shubman Gill Sunil Gavaskar England vs India, 2025 Cricket