Hundred is “just a number” for Ben Stokes, who’s set for his 100th appearance in the longest format when the third Test gets underway on Thursday.

In other words, the ongoing series matters much more than a personal milestone for the England captain. England’s Bazball was schooled by this depleted Indian side in Visakhapatnam, so no matter what India do, the visitors need to be always on the ball and get their work right to give themselves the best chance of winning the series.

Stokes surely understands that. But one of England’s biggest problems is their inexperienced spin attack, especially after the injured Jack Leach was ruled out following the second Test.

Mark Wood’s inclusion in the XI in place of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir does strengthen England’s pace attack, especially with James Anderson bowling with a fairly good rhythm in Visakhapatnam. “Taking a bit of knowledge from the last Test match we played here (in 2016), albeit a long time ago, it was a pretty true, flat wicket.

“Looking at it today (Wednesday), it looks a bit platey (flat and plain). But I think it’s a good wicket. Bringing in an extra seamer this week is the option we’ve gone with because we think it’s going to give us the best chance of winning this week,” Stokes said on the eve of the Test.

However, in spite of Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed’s impressive spells so far in the series, the tweakers struggled to come up with a plan B, especially when Yashasvi Jaiswal took them on in the first innings of the previous Test. Also, irrespective of how well Anderson and Wood bowl, it’s quite tough for the duo to just rip through the opposition line-up in these conditions.

The ideal scenario for England thus would be Stokes himself pitching in as the third seamer, being a perfect support for Anderson and Wood. He has gone into this series as a specialist batter following the knee surgery last November, but during Wednesday’s practice session, Stokes bowled for quite some time in the pitch adjacent to the main one. He had bowled at almost full tilt during Tuesday’s training too.

Is this an indication that going forward in the series, the England skipper may
play a part with his seam bowling? “In Dharamsala, where conditions are likely to favour the quicks a little more, you might just see him squeezing in a few overs,” said an England team source.

“His actual aim though is to get fully fit to bowl in the next English summer when we take on the West Indies and Sri Lanka.”