India 146-1 at stumps in fourth England Test

India were 451 for seven at stumps on the third day of their fourth cricket Test against England here today. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin has taken six wickets in exchange for 112 runs with his 44 overs.

But it all started with Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara looking to continue from where they left on Friday. India are still 254 runs behind.

“The amount of runs Kohli has scored in this series, if you take that away, then it’s a completely different series”, England’s Joe Root said.

“400 can happen sometimes with tailenders batting together”.

“In the future, I always thought I’d get a chance”, he said. “And, we definitely have traditional bowlers who can vary their pace brilliantly”.

Determined to dominate even when the chips were down without being reckless, the captain brought up a 15th Test century that stood out for quality as well as for the situation it came.

Pujara faced 102 deliveries, and hit six boundaries.

But England’s hopes of reducing their series arrears to 2-1 began to flicker again after lunch. Out came Parthiv Patel, who had been less than complimentary about England’s spinners the previous night.

It was his seventh five-for in 2016.

England could not turn the screw after that flurry of wickets; there were too many loose deliveries and Ravindra Jadeja was inclined to attack, which he did briefly until he skied a drive off Rashid.

Ashwin had Stokes top-edging in the very first over of the morning, but the fielder stationed at backward square leg reacted late to the opportunity and allowed the ball to hit the turf well.

‘It’s a very deceptive wicket – it looks like it’s doing a lot but it’s pretty hard and well rolled.

Kohli’s exuberance and determination shifted the spotlight from Vijay’s eighth Test century, which ended a short chain of low scores after his 126 in the first innings of the first Test.

Ashwin provided India with the day’s first breakthrough early, dismissing Ben Stokes (31) who was caught by Virat Kohli at slip.

Jadeja also removed Chris Woakes (11), caught behind, and bowled Adil Rashid (0-49) to leave the visitors at 334-8.

Rashid then went for the first single-figure score of the innings, playing no shot to a Jadeja arm ball which flicked the off bail.

“I was fully aware and probably expecting not to play a game in Bangladesh or here in India”.

Much as cricket lends itself to these delicious debates that many times remain unresolved, it is finally the performance that matters and has the final say. “Personally it gets me in a good place and makes me perform at my best”, he said.

England had their chances to break both partnerships.

But England’s bowlers face a big task tomorrow.

“When we get home tonight we will think we need to be a bit more consistent and land the ball a bit more consistently”. Reiffel is still recovering from concussion after being hit on the back of the head by a stray throw from the outfield on day one. The ICC, in a statement, said that Reiffel’s scan reports are clear but he won’t be officiating further in this Mumbai test as a precaution. His replacement was the original third umpire, South Africa’s Marais Erasmus.