MITCHELL JOHNSON: Ben Stokes’ role in handshakegate overshadowed his strong fourth Test performance

If the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford taught us anything, it’s that Test cricket still has a heartbeat — and it doesn’t need forced handshakes or fake niceties to prove it.

Let’s get one thing straight: there’s no rule that says players have to stop playing just because the result is heading toward a draw. And there’s certainly no law in the game that says you must shake hands before the final ball is bowled. That’s a courtesy — not a commandment.

India batted until Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar both got well-earned hundreds, and the match ended exactly how it was meant to: on the field.

But as always, the headlines started hunting for controversy after England captain Ben Stokes wanted an early finish. “Why didn’t they shake hands early?” “Why push on when the game was dead?” “Why bat for milestones?” Give it a rest.

Those two blokes in the middle earned the right put a stop to England’s momentum, digging their heels in and making a statement. With one Test to go, you could say it was also a tactical ploy to keep England out there on their feet.

India dug in and ground it out. That’s not arrogance, that’s resilience. And if you’ve never fought to save a Test, you probably don’t get how important those innings were.

Then came the noise about England being the side taking the moral high ground. Stokes and co. were ready to shake hands, while the Indian batsmen weren’t.

But this isn’t Sunday footy in the suburbs. This is elite-level Test cricket, and players are under no obligation to wrap things up early just to make people feel warm and fuzzy.

Stokes was phenomenal in the fourth Test — leading from the front, bowling long spells and making a century to follow up his five-fa — but let’s not paint him as some cricketing saint just because India didn’t mirror his sportsmanship in that one moment.

And vice versa. We’ve seen India’s captain Shubman Gill dish it out also and that’s what a captain does, stands up for his team in all situations.

What’s been refreshing about this series is the edge. A bit of bite. A bit of niggle. And guess what? The fans are loving it.

The back-and-forth, the tension, the body language — it’s all part of the theatre. Every innings has felt alive. Players are in each other’s faces, and the crowds have been fully invested. You want full houses and buzz around Test cricket? This is how you get it — not by sterilising the emotion out of the game.

Sure, there’s a line, and nobody wants things getting personal or nasty, and we have seen some slaps on the wrist for going over the top. But let’s not pretend that fire and fight are a bad thing.

This isn’t a handshake convention — it’s a Test series named after James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar.

Do you think Anderson got where he did without a bit of fire? And Tendulkar? He didn’t say much, but he let his bat do the talking along with big body language.

And let’s not act like England’s always been holier-than-thou. From Bodyline to the Ashes sledges, from send-offs to silence in defeat — everyone’s got a bit of history. It’s the game. It’s human.

And it’s what makes a series like this one so compelling.

We’ve seen genuine battles this tour. Stokes’ warrior spells, Joe Root’s climb to second on the all-time Test runs list, Jasprit Bumrah’s fire, Rishabh Pant’s flair before injury, and now the fight from India’s lower order.

The series sits at 2–1 to England, and both sides have landed punches. This isn’t a polite exhibition series. It’s a proper contest, and it’s alive heading into the Oval.

So, let’s not distract ourselves with who did or didn’t shake hands or who batted too long.

If the worst thing we can say is that players didn’t end the game early enough, then cricket’s doing just fine. Let the cricket breathe. Let the edge stay. And let the final Test decide the talking points.

What excites me about this series is the prospect of a quality, fiery Ashes series in Australia later this year.