The last time a visiting skipper in England notched up a double century was Graeme Smith in 2003 and it led Nasser Hussain to fall on his sword mid-series. Smith – or “what’s-his-name” as Hussain called him beforehand – was a captain hunter on these shores, his South Africa team going on to account for Michael Vaughan in 2008 and then Andrew Strauss four years later.
Ben Stokes at least knew Shubman Gill’s name before this series and, in fairness, the England captaincy is unlikely to change hands in the next week. Nevertheless, Gill inflicted one of the toughest days of Stokes’ three years in charge as his chanceless and downright merciless 269 from 387 balls drove India to a position of dominance.
