Cheteshwar Pujara : We are very clear about our plans for final day

England’s best batsman got an early reprieve on nine when India skipper Virat Kohli failed to hold a catch at leg slip off Ashwin. But it also makes me not hit the ball in the air which I probably prefer in Test cricket”. The England batsmen would not like to lose a wicket particularly in this phase, if they get set, and keep their basics right, this would be one unbelievable Test match.

England still have hope of saving the second Test against India, according to pace bowler Stuart Broad. “We respect England”, said Kohli, who was named man of the match.

The England batting also deserves a note of mention as their openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed provided stiff resistance against the Indian bowlers in their second innings before the spinners ran through the visitors to clinch victory on the final day of the Test match.

It will be a mighty task for England on the final day, but they will certainly have to pick up the pace if they are to go 1-0 up in the series.

Indian spinners R Ashwin and Jayant Yadav took 3 wickets each and pacer Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja took 2 wickets each. India were all out for 204 runs but the total was enough to give Indian a lead of 404 runs. “We could have played more aggressively and lost by 150 runs or so”, said Cook. I know our last innings didn’t really show that but obviously we were playing really defensively, trying to bat for a draw. The first Test against Sri Lanka in the three-Test series in 2015 is Kohli’s only loss since he officially took over the captaincy from MS Dhoni. We saw the first day was easiest to bat. “A couple of good tosses will help that, there s no doubt about that”, Cook said, emphasising the importance of winning tosses on these wickets.

India eventually scored 455 runs in the first innings and the 64-run stand between Ashwin and Jayant played a big role in the same.

“It has to be done in a partnership and I think they are combining really well – all the spinners and fast bowlers – at the moment. Yes, he hasn’t been in a game situation but that’s the lot we’ve got”.

The action now shifts to Mohali for the third test starting on Saturday.

When things got much more hard in the second innings, Virat again rose to the occasion and scored an important 81 to pose a hard target for the visitors. The two players, who know every word of the “How to save a Test match” text-book are back in the pavilion after their gritty display.