India Vs England, 4th Test: Shubman Gill Backs Decision To Continue As Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar Near Tons

India captain Shubman Gill lauded the batting effort of his side after salvaging a draw in the fourth Test against England and backed the decision to not accept Ben Stokes' offer to end the game early, saying Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar deserved to complete their centuries.

India, who started their second innings 311 runs behind, produced a spirited batting display to finish on 425 for four in 143 overs, with Gill (103), KL Rahul (90), Jadeja (107 not out) and Washington (101 not out) leading the resistance.

There was a brief moment of drama in the final hour when England skipper Stokes proposed ending the contest early, with both Indian batters approaching individual milestones. But the offer was turned down, allowing Jadeja and Washington to reach their hundreds.

“Definitely it was up to the boys, but we thought they batted brilliantly. Both of them were in their 90s, so we thought they deserved a century,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.

India were reduced to 0 for two early in their second innings after openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan fell without scoring, but the middle-order stood firm under pressure.

"With our batting effort, the past couple of days I think we were put under a lot of pressure. But I think the way we responded, especially after losing those two early wickets, never easy but a very brave effort," Gill said.

"It's all about taking the wicket out of the equation. Day five wicket, the ball is doing, something is happening, every ball is kind of an event. So you just want to play ball by ball and want to take the game as deep as possible." India had earlier posted 358 in their first innings, but England replied with a massive 669, putting the visitors on the back foot before the fightback.

"In the first innings, yes, we did post a good total, but I think a lot of our batsmen did get set and got out. It's important on these kind of wickets that one or two batsmen, if they go deep, they go big, then you can really take the game away from the opposition," Gill said.

"Unfortunately for us in the first innings, it didn't happen. A lot of the batsmen did get starts, but we were not able to convert those starts into big ones, but very pleased with the way we were able to do that in the second innings." Gill’s knock was his fourth century of the series and ninth overall in Test cricket. He also became part of an elite list of captains with the most hundreds in a single series, alongside legends like Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar (four each).

"Honestly, it doesn't matter how many runs you have scored in the past, but every time you walk into wearing the white shirt representing your country, there are some jitters and that's what tells me how much I care and how much I love this game," Gill said.

"And every time I bat, I just want to be able to play the best that I can and I want to enjoy my batting as much as I can."

I wasn't risking any of my bowlers for that last half an hour: Stokes

Ben Stokes meanwhile defended his decision to offer India the option to end the fourth Test early, saying he didn’t want to risk his frontline pacers with the game heading towards a certain draw.

"I think all the hard work was done by India. They both played incredibly well. It got to that point where there was obviously only one result, and there was absolutely no chance I was going to risk any of my big fast bowlers through injuries with one more game to go," Stokes said.

"I wasn't risking any of my frontline bowlers for that last half an hour." Stokes, who bowled 35 overs across both innings, also appeared in visible discomfort during his spells, particularly with his right shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s just a workload thing, to be honest. Obviously, I got through a fair few amount of overs. Just everything starts creeping up on you. But yeah, look, I’ll keep trying, keep going,” he added.

Despite his all-round heroics — scoring 141 and picking up six wickets in the match — Stokes said individual performances meant little without a team result.

"I think when you have a good game as an all-rounder, you assess how that goes by the result at the end. Obviously, I’ll give all this back if we were on the right side of the result that we wanted."