Kevin Pietersen defends Ben Stokes' 'frustration' at India's refusal to accept draw at Old Trafford

India recovered from 0-2 to go past 311 to avoid the innings defeat just before tea on the fifth day. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar then batted another hour and a half in the third session to take India's lead to 75 when the mandatory final hour of the match was about to start.

Also read: Surviving the impossible – Where the Jadeja-Sundar rearguard ranks among the great modern match-saving efforts

With the game clearly heading for a draw, Stokes offered to shake hands and call it off, but Jadeja and Sundar, on 89 and 80 respectively, refused as they were close to their individual hundreds. This irked Stokes and England, as they were visibly and audibly upset, trying to get under the skin of the two Indian batters.

Five more overs of part-time spin were bowled, three by Harry Brook and two by Joe Root, which resulted in 41 runs and both Jadeja and Sundar getting to their hundreds before they finally shook hands.

The events towards the end of play led to a lot of strong reactions from around the cricket world. Sanjay Manjrekar felt Stokes "behaved like a spoiled kid"and that he "should have behaved better", while Jonathan Trott argued that England would have taken the draw instead of focusing on individual milestones if they were in India's position.

In the post-match presentation, Stokes said that he didn't want to risk any of his fast bowlers which is why they bowled Brook and Root, while Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir both stated that Jadeja and Sundar "deserved to get their hundreds", which is why they refused to accept the draw.

Pietersen, now, has thrown his weight behind Stokes, arguing that England had been fielding for a long time and with no result in sight, it was natural for them to want to go off.

"2 days fielding and no result on the cards - you WANT to get off the field!," he wrote on social media. "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."

England bowled a total of 143 overs in the second innings across five sessions, the last 142.1 of which yielded only two wickets. They had also sent down 114.1 overs in the first innings, conceding 358 runs. Stokes himself took a five-for in the first innings, bowling 24 overs, followed by 11 overs on day five despite struggling with a shoulder issue.

The next Test at The Oval starts on July 31, with only a three-day break.