The fourth test against India and England has ended in controversy after England were visibly frustrated that India refused an offer to shake hands and call the match a draw.
On a pitch that favoured bat over ball, India and England registered 358 and 669 runs in their first innings, respectively.
As India's second innings went on, a draw became inevitable. England captain Ben Stokes offered to shake hands with the Indian players and call the match a draw with 15 overs remaining on the final day of play.
The offer came as Ravi Jadeja and Washington Sundar were both in the 80s, and Sundar was nearing a maiden test century.
Jadeja and Sundar opted to continue, with Indian captain Shubman Gill showing no objection from the change rooms.
Stokes and his players were frustrated, and they let it show. Stump mic captured swearing directed at the batsmen.
"If you wanted to score a century, you should have batted like you wanted to get it", Stokes said to the pair.
"Just shake your hand. It's embarrassing", England batsman, Zak Crawley, said.
After both Jadeja and Sundar had reached their centuries, the match was called a draw only five overs after Stokes' initial offer.
England and India defend their decisions.
Following the game, Stokes explained he wanted to manage the workload of his frontline bowlers given the short turnaround before the fifth and final Test at The Oval.
After India declined the offer at the end of the game, Stokes put on batter Harry Brook to bowl. Brook appeared to be intentionally bowling poorly.
Brook attempted to taunt Sundar after he brought up his century by offering to shake his hand.
"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", Stokes said to the BBC.
"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."
India's coach, Gautam Gambhir, stood by his players' decision.
"Would they have walked off if someone from England was batting on 90 or 85 and someone has the opportunity to get his first Test hundred?", Gambhir said to the press.
"If they want to play that way, that's up to them. I think both those guys deserved a hundred, and fortunately, they got it."
England's conduct draws criticism.
The batting-friendly series between England and India has meant both camps have taken a physical toll, and bowlers have been managing high workloads.
Consequently, Stokes' request to end the game early, given the inevitable result, has not in itself been questioned. Rather, the conduct of England's players after India continued to bat has drawn criticism.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was critical of England's decision to bowl part-timers.
"He'll have to manage his overs carefully with main bowlers already exhausted from bowling long spells the whole day" Manjrekar said, as reported by Fox Sports.
"Throwing lollipops in the air and showing a little bit of grumpiness out there, that was Ben Stokes behaving like a spoiled kid."
Former England batsman Jonathan Trott defended England whilst speaking to Jio Hotstar.
He claimed that, given England's "Bazball" mentality, and their prioritisation of the result over individual milestones, had the roles been reversed, England would've accepted the offer.
The overall result has always been more important than individual milestones, given that cricket is a team sport.
That said, it is nothing new for teams to do whatever they can to get batters to the century milestone if it does not compromise their chances of winning.
In a run chase, if one batter is close to a century and another is not, the batter further away from the milestone will try to give the other batter the strike to give them the best chance of scoring a ton.
When captains are contemplating a declaration in a batting innings, many will wait for a player to score a century if they are close and there is enough time in the game.
Stokes has a right to request the handshake and manage player workload. Conversely, India can allow their players to reach individual achievements.
The fifth and final test between India and England begins on July 31.
