“The 10 more runs or whatever it was ain't gonna change the fact” - Ben Stokes opens up on handshake controversy

England captain Ben Stokes has opened up on the handshake controversy after both sides settled for a draw on the fifth and final day of the Manchester Test, with England still leading the series 2-1.

Notably, Stokes tried to shake hands with 15 overs remaining on Day 5. However, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who were batting in the 80s, didn’t opt for a handshake, which didn’t go down well with Stokes, who put up an animated reaction.

"The knock that those two played was very, very good," Stokes said at the press conference.

"The situation that India found themselves in there, with us opening the game slightly, that partnership was massive. You hold your hands up, they played incredibly, incredibly well. And I don't think there would've been too much more satisfaction from walking off a hundred not out, getting your team out of a tricky situation, than walking off at 80, 90 not out. That's what you've done for your team. You know, the 10 more runs or whatever it was ain't gonna change the fact that you've managed to get your team out of a very, very, very tricky situation and almost saved your team from a series defeat before the last game,” he added.

After that controversy, Stokes brought in Harry Brook and Joe Root to the bowling attack as Stokes didn’t want to risk his main bowlers with the fifth Test scheduled to take place four days from now in London.

"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 and 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," he stated.

"The only other person who actually has any bowling workload in them is Harry Brook. But I did have to say to him, please don't do anything stupid. We've been out in the field for 200-and-whatever overs, we've got a quick turnaround, so just do what needs to be done. I said don't do anything daft: don't pull a side, don't pull a hamstring. We knew what was going on there,” he noted.

India and England will clash against each other in the fifth and final Test, starting on Thursday, July 31.

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