England captain Ben Stokes etched his name in the history books on Day 4 of the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, Manchester, becoming just the third player in the history of Test cricket to achieve the rare double of 7,000 runs and 200 wickets.
Stokes joins the legendary Jacques Kallis of South Africa and West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers in this exclusive club. Kallis amassed 13,288 runs and claimed 292 wickets, while Sobers finished his illustrious career with 8,032 runs and 235 wickets from 93 Tests.
The 34-year-old England skipper, who has been exceptional with the ball throughout the series, finally found his touch with the bat under ideal batting conditions. He played a commanding innings, scoring 141 off 198 balls, propelling England to a formidable first-innings total of 669.
This performance also made Stokes only the fourth England cricketer to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test match. Additionally, he became the 13th Englishman to surpass the 7,000-run milestone in Test cricket.
Stokes’s all-round brilliance was complemented by a fiery spell from Chris Woakes after the innings break. Woakes struck twice in the same over, removing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and debutant Sai Sudharsan, both caught in the slips to leave India reeling early in their reply.
At lunch on Day 4, India found themselves in deep trouble, still trailing by 310 runs and fighting to avoid an innings defeat. England's commanding performance has put them firmly in control of the match, with Stokes leading from the front in both departments.