Pass the cold flannel, won’t you, and switch on the ceiling fan. I’ve had that old dream, one I thought I’d almost banished, about subcontinental pitches and rampaging Indian spinners. Actually, forget that, you’d better hand the flannel to Ben Stokes.
At Ranchi, for the first time in the series, India’s spinners hit full pillage mode, snatching every wicket to fall in England’s brief second innings, swirling an air of inevitability over proceedings like a smothering cape. England’s innings had started with the ballast of a 46-run lead, which, although smaller than Stokes would have liked, felt more than handy. But it ended with England’s trousers round their ankles, India having snipped their braces from behind: all out for 145, with the last seven wickets slipping away for 35 runs. Even during the second-innings 122 at Rajkot, there was time for Zak Crawley to be lbw to Jasprit Bumrah and Ben Duckett to be hopelessly run out.
