England in Deep trouble after Gill's history-making double century

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.

- Ali Martin

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 merciless 269 from 387 balls drove India to a position of dominance.

At stumps on the second evening, slow-cooked by India's 587 all out from 151 gruelling overs, England had stumbled to 77 for three and the sleepy surface that served as the canvas for Gill's artistry had fleetingly woken up. This is hardly uncommon when a fresh attack has a mountain of runs on the board. But the sight of Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj reducing the hosts to 25 for three up top was still quite the jolt.