Despite putting on a rapid 407 with a run rate over 4.50 in reply to India’s first-innings 587 after opting to bowl first, Stokes and Co. were blunted by the Indian batters, led by captain Shubman Gill. The 25-year-old Punjab batter ended up becoming the first batter in Test history to record a 250 and a 150 in the same match, totalling 430 runs, the second-highest match aggregate for a player in history.

England’s Bazballers were eventually exposed, not just by the sheer weight of runs India amassed – the 1014 runs in two innings being the highest-ever recorded by the side in 591 Tests. The glaring gulf between the pace attacks of both teams meant India had enough quality in their attack to pick all 20 wickets, becoming only the second team in Test history after Australia (in 1938, 1969) to register 1000 runs and pick up all 20 wickets in a match. Led by Akash Deep’s 10-wicket match haul and Mohammed Siraj’s first-innings six-for, India seamers picked up 17 wickets to England pacer’s eight in the match.

‘Sub-continent pitch’

When quizzed on the Test Match Special, if England wanted to continue playing on such flat-bed surfaces, Stokes countered that the conditions ended up mirroring pitches in India, which suited the visitors.

“To be honest, it’s probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it got deeper and deeper into the game. There was certainly a little bit in it to start off with and I think we exposed that very very well early on,” said Stokes.