England skipper Ben Stokes wrote history at Old Trafford in Manchester on Day 4 of the fourth Test against India, delivering a performance that wrote history. Stokes' 141 and a five-wicket haul not only took England to a strong position with a 311-run first innings lead but also witnessed a cheeky retort from India's wily spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Interestingly, Ashwin had earlier doubted Stokes' batting form. While this, Stokes retaliated with 141 off 198 balls. His first century in two years and subsequent to a 35-inning drought. English captain had already registered his impact with the ball in the first innings, bagging a 5/72 to set apart India's batting order. By taking this unprecedented double, Stokes became the fifth Test captain, and the first English captain, to make a century and a five-wicket haul in the same game. He also became a select trio of Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis to be just the third all-rounder to record the double of 7000+ Test runs and 200+ wickets. But earlier in the series, Ashwin had criticized Stokes' batting contributions. After Stokes' knock, a fan took a swipe at Ashwin on X. "Anna (Big Brother) @ashwinravi99, this is Ben Stokes #BenStokes," the fan wrote. Also Read | Joe Root Surpasses Ponting, Becomes Second-Highest Test Run Scorer Here is what Ashwin replied: “Arrey (Attention), sir ji, no one doubted his class! He got his first fifer after 2017; this game was a hundred after two years! This has come because of his traditional test match approach to batting and not the carefree one he had adopted before this. Ben Stokes is a fabulous player. I take my hat off to him. But we need to remember one thing. Barring that Headingley heroics in the Ashes, what has he achieved as a batter? The readiness to play a Test match in the way a Test match needs to be played—that is the problem from the leadership standpoint. You are telling every batter to go and play an attacking brand of cricket, so you need to play like that only." Anna @ashwinravi99 this is Ben Stokes #BenStokes pic.twitter.com/R7NqxVNIQx — Joney Singh (@singhjoney2002) July 26, 2025 Stokes's all-round wizardry arrived at a crucial juncture in the series. With England already ahead at 2-1 following dramatic victories at Leeds and Lord's, his innings further swayed the momentum in favor of the hosts. England's record 669 was founded on his knock, Joe Root's 150, and the efforts of the top order. India, meanwhile, after losing two early wickets in their second innings, had skipper Shubman Gill and KL Rahul steady the innings. At the time of writing, India's scorecard read 86/2 after 29 overs, and they trail by 225 runs.