'England would've walked off had Gill offered handshake': Stokes finds support as Jadeja slammed for chasing 'milestone'

Jonathan Trott backed Ben Stokes amid criticism, slamming Ravindra Jadeja for chasing a ton as a draw loomed

Amid a barrage of criticism aimed at England captain Ben Stokes for his final-hour antics following a no-handshake from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar during Day 5 of the fourth Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, the all-rounder finally found support from compatriot Jonathan Trott. The former England cricketer rather lashed out at Jadeja for prioritising "personal milestone" over the result.

Ben Stokes (L) shakes hands with Ravindra Jadeja (R) for a draw on day five of the fourth cricket test match between England and India at Old Trafford (AFP)

With a draw inevitable in Manchester after the two Indian all-rounders' defiance, Stokes offered to shake hands and end the game. But Jadeja, who was in his 90s, and Sundar, who was in his 80s, rejected the offer as they were rather keen on reaching the much-deserved personal milestone.

This left Stokes infuriated, sparking a heated exchange between the two parties. The England captain then tossed the ball to Harry Brook, who bowled comical deliveries to mock the two Indian batters, who eventually got to their respective milestones in the next 15 minutes of the drama.

Speaking to JioStar, Trott claimed that Stokes would have accepted the draw if the roles were reversed, and Shubman Gill had offered the handshake. He further said that in the Bazball era, results mattered more than "personal milestones," thus taking a dig at Jadeja.

"In his mind, the game's done. I don't think England would have had the personal milestones on their mind personally, that's just my view. Maybe if somebody was close to getting it, their maiden century, it would have been a little bit different," the former England batter said.

"You could tell by the way that Ben Stokes has reacted that if they were in the same seat, they probably would have shook the Indian captain's hand if it was offered – if Shubman Gill went up to the English batsman and they were in the same position, they would have walked off.

"That's what Test cricket's about. It's played hard, it's played fair, but there's also a code and a sort of ethos that the game is played with equal respect for each other."

However, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, who was part of the panel, did not agree with Trott as he labelled Stokes a "spoiled kid," saying that the home team rather "made a mockery of the game" by bowling part-timer Brook at the end.

"Okay fine, he's unhappy that the players haven't walked off, he'll have to manage his overs carefully with main bowlers already exhausted from bowling long spells whole day," Manjrekar said.

"But throwing lollipops in the air and showing a little bit of grumpiness out there, that was Ben Stokes behaving like a spoiled kid.

"I can understand him being surprised India wanted to continue ... but everything won't go as per your wishes – he should've handled that better.

"It was Ben, the hero, the champion that I admire, on that occasion behaving like a spoiled kid."

Speaking to the BBC after the match, Stokes explained that he wanted to wrap up the match before his bowlers were already exhausted, keeping in mind the short turnaround before the series final at the Oval, which will begin on Thursday.

"We were willing to take it as far as we possibly could and throw everything at them that we did, but it got to that point where there was obviously only one result left on the table," Stokes said.

"I wasn't going to be risking any of my frontline bowlers in a situation like that, especially when we've got a quick turnaround."