On the day Jimmy Anderson ­celebrated mountain goat status, England’s expedition ended in outright failure, a harrowing second avalanche of wickets at the hands of India’s majestic spinners turning a tour of missed opportunities into a full-blown 4-1 thumping.

In some ways it summed up the trip as a whole, an Englishman snatching the top line when the hosts were the real deal. Although, in fairness, this was some rarefied air Anderson was breathing, becoming Test cricket’s first (and most likely last) seamer to reach 700 wickets when Kuldeep Yadav tickled an edge behind 13 minutes into play.

By the same token, it could not mask what followed on a third day that slipped its carabiner and positively unravelled thereafter. England, 259 runs in arrears after that tone-setting collapse to Kuldeep on day one, and India’s more conditions-­reflective 477 all out, were bowled out for 195 in 48.1 overs; a truly crushing defeat by an innings and 64 runs that left the heist of Hyderabad six weeks ago a slightly distant memory.

Anderson deserved better than this; better than the crazed flurry of yahoos or jaded bamboozlement that passed as England’s final outing with the bat on tour. Joe Root looked the only member of the top seven still mentally present in India, not packed and ready for business class. His composed and professional 84 was very much the outlier, even if England’s seventh sub-300 total in a series played on flat pitches was very much not.

As Rohit Sharma savoured the completion of India’s triumph from the sidelines – his back stiff from the rigours of a century 24 hours earlier and seeing Jasprit Bumrah take the reins on the field – Ravichandran Ashwin celebrated his 100th cap with five for 77 on the day and so nine in the match; fine reward for a spinner always striving for perfection.

But Ashwin, now up to 516 Test wickets and with his young family cheering him on from the stands, has also sent down countless better spells for fewer rewards. His victims here threw themselves on to the pile in the main – not that India, already assured of their 17th straight home series win, were not full value for it.

For all the talk of the hosts being weakened, a conveyor belt of hungry, correct batters has made this negligible. The chief difference has been with the ball; a goat-standard home attack augmented since the first Test by Kuldeep – seven wickets of left-arm magic for the player of the match here – and with Bumrah, 19 wickets of whiplashed menace, the spearhead.

England, by contrast, have been trying to MacGyver 20 wickets through the tactical enterprise of Ben Stokes which, though impressive, has worked only twice. Stokes hates hindsight but playing the World Cup – still the lowlight in England’s winter of discontent – and thus pushing back knee surgery stymied his options here. Removing Sharma on day two with his first ball in nine months, great as it was, only highlighted what might have been.

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England were five wickets short of setting up a decider at 2-2 but instead ended with four straight losses. This is the kind of streak that, for all the undeniable progress under Stokes, should prompt some in-house conversations about how to hit the next level; whether the big-talking machismo has turned the dial of risk versus reward too far.

It felt like a chat worth having after this grim third day, however much the ruinous loss of five top-order wickets for 100 inside 23 overs before lunch was a symptom of fatigue. And not least watching Ben Duckett charge Ashwin fifth ball – hardly the opener’s trademark shot – or the frantic Ollie Pope top-edging a quasi-arm ball from well outside off.

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In between, Zak Crawley fiddled Ashwin to backward short-leg for a 16-ball duck, a tepid end to a decent tour of 407 runs but, given three scores in the 70s, one of altitude sickness also. And though Jonny Bairstow was belligerent, cracking three sixes and swapping words with Shubman Gill for apparently telling Anderson he should retire, an emotionally charged 100th Test was ended lbw playing back to a Kuldeep ripper.

Bairstow’s 39 was his highest score of a series in which he passed 25 seven times and, with Harry Brook set to return in the summer, it could be 100 and done. Equally, Ben Foakes, who averaged 20.5, may be the fall guy. Perhaps his trying to fit in was what handed Ashwin his 36th five-wicket haul, Foakes castled attempting a wild sweep off his stumps.

Stokes fared no better, dodging a pair but still bowled for two lunging at an Ashwin slider. All of which contrasted with Root, an island of proficiency, even while Bumrah, his tormentor at the start of the series, was vaporising the lower order. Root slogged to long-on to spark India’s celebrations but had looked the only one in ­control of his game.

It also spared Anderson being the last man out on a day he will eventually look back on with fondness. An attempt to make Shoaib Bashir lead the team off in the morning was a nice touch, too, even if the 20-year-old, fresh from a hard-earned five-wicket haul, insisted they do so together. Unfortunately, the batting that ­followed was similarly obliging.