Since Ben Stokes and his entire England side went hard at Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, the two Indian batters, for not accepting their proposal of calling the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester off, every lens has viewed the situation in various ways, as comments have come on which camp they belong to. 

Many reckoned that Stokes, the Durham player and the captain, was right to shake hands, given his bowlers were dead on their feet. His action came just after a flashing drive from Washington Sundar smashed Ben Duckett on his arms while fielding at the silly point. Kevin Pietersen, the former batter, has come to the defense of Stokes on his social media account.

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‘2 days fielding and no result on the cards - you WANT to get off the field! You cannot have a pop at Ben Stokes for his frustration. Very easy to have a pop at him when you’re sitting in your lounge watching. You’re NOT in the battle. Leave the men in the ring to be emotional.’ Pietersen wrote on his ‘X’ handled (formerly known as Twitter).

Kevin Pietersen defends Ben Stokes' behavior after India refuses to accept draw proposal in ENG vs IND 4th Test in Manchester

Stokes, later, coming into the press conference, admitted that he was not ready to use any of his frontline pacers in the game, given that they will turn up again for the fifth and final contest at the Kennington Oval in South London in three days. That was why Harry Brook was introduced into the attack.

2 days fielding and no result on the cards - you WANT to get off the field!
You cannot have a pop at Ben Stokes for his frustration.
Very easy to have a pop at him when you’re sitting in your lounge watching.
You’re NOT in the battle. Leave the men in the ring to be emotional.

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 28, 2025

Jadeja smashed a couple of sixes in that over and celebrated his second Test century in England after his maiden hundred at Edgbaston in 2022, while Sundar, who was strangled on 95 and 86 in the past, finally notched up his maiden red-ball century. It’s a huge boost for the tourists going into South London.

The series now stands at 2-1 with the home side enjoying the lead. But India will still have a chance to walk away with the 2-2 margin if they display another special show at the Oval.