Thursday was largely, but only, about Shubman Gill, who inspired a terrific riposte from his lads at a sunny Edgbaston.

Captain Fantastic produced the biggest score by an Indian on English soil on Day Two of the second Test, a monumental effort of 269 that was the bedrock of India’s massive 587. During his eight-and-a-half-hour vigil, he comfortably went past his previous Test highest of 147 scored in the last game — but he will be the first to acknowledge that he couldn’t have done it all on his own after his side resumed on 310 for four.

India’s lower order came seriously unstuck in both innings of the first Test, losing seven for 41 in the first and then six for 31. But this time, there was no unseemly implosion. Ravindra Jadeja (89), the feisty all-rounder, helped his skipper put on 203 for the sixth wicket, after which Washington Sundar, one of three inclusions for this game, weighed in with a vital 42 in a seventh-wicket alliance of 144.