The way Ben Stokes’s team play does not feel up for debate any more. They do it their way, with gumption, and if you don’t like gumption you don’t have to watch. And if you watch, you must be prepared to take your tablespoon of cold, glutinous cod liver oil alongside your cakes and ale.
England have played two Tests on this tour of India, both from the now-familiar blueprint. They won the first at Hyderabad, incredibly, against all precedent, coaxing from Tom Hartley – a man on Test debut who had a first‑innings bowling debut to fold, fold, and fold again before pressing into the dirt – astonishing second-innings figures of seven for 62. Ollie Pope’s 196, one of the great innings™, under pressure on a turning pitch, led the second‑innings fightback. India, who had never lost at home with a first-innings advantage of three figures, watched open-mouthed, their body language dropping into their boots.
