ENG vs IND: Shubman Gill reveals why India didn't accept Ben Stokes' handshake offer to draw Manchester test

Shubman Gill said he was pleased with India’s batting efforts in the Manchester test.

Indian skipper Shubman Gill was pleased with his team’s batting in the Manchester test. He also revealed why they did not accept Ben Stokes’ offer to end the match early. The fourth test between England and India, which took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, ended in a draw.

After being asked to bat first, India piled up 358/10 in the first innings. Later, Joe Root (150) and Ben Stokes (141) smacked centuries to power England’s scoreboard to 669/10 in the first innings and lead by 311 runs.

With team under pressure, India Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar hammered centuries while, KL Rahul (90) played a vital hand to change the complexion of the game. Their brilliant effort with the bat allowed India to take a lead in second innings as they posted 425/4 before the game ended in a draw.

We thought they deserved a century there – Shubman Gill

During the post-match presentation, Indian captain Gill revealed that Jadeja and Washington deserved centuries, hence, they didn’t accept Stokes’ offer to end the match soon.

“We thought they (Jadeja and Sundar) batted brilliantly, they were in their 90s, we thought they deserved a century there,” he said.

Gill also said he was pleased with India’s batting efforts in the second innings. He revealed that India were under immense pressure during the last two days of the encounter.

“Extremely pleased with the batting effort. Past couple of days we were put under tremendous pressure. It’s all about taking the wicket out of the equation. Day 5 wicket, something is happening, every ball is an event”, he said.

“Every match going till the last session on the last day. Plenty of learnings. Has taught us a lot as a group. Doesn’t matter how many runs you’ve scored in the past. Every time you walk wearing the whites of the country, there are some jitters”, he added.

Gill also noted that India gave a good show with the bat in the first innings, however, they failed to go deep.

“In the first innings, we did post a good total. But a lot of our batters did get set. Important on these wickets for set batters to go deep. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. But pleased with the way we were able to do that in the second innings”, Gill further said.

After the Manchester test, England lead the five-match series 2-1. Now, both teams will clash in the fifth test at The Oval, London. The encounter will begin on July 31.

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