Just 10 balls had been delivered on this fourth day, England had started brightly and had been buoyed by the wicket of India’s captain. For the batters a time perhaps for a little caution. At which point the freshly arrived Rishabh Pant faced his second delivery, bowled by Chris Woakes, hared down the pitch and swung his bat like a particularly clueless novice golfer, the ball spinning off the outside edge and flying over the slips and away for four.
From the crowd the reflexive reaction was laughter, not inappropriately given this was the kind of behaviour normally associated less with people wearing cricket whites and more with those sporting outsize shoes, a red nose and plenty of face paint.
