India 148-2 after dismissing England for 283

Pujara (51) and Kohli (40) preferred caution over aggression, adding 75 runs for the unbroken third wicket. “They got a partnership going but that happens in cricket”, said Adil Rashid, after the day’s play. By the end, the spin duo had crucially allowed India to narrow down the first innings deficit to just 12 by end of day’s play. The pitch is also expected to crumble at some point of time, which means England can fancy their chances if they bat well in their second innings.

“I think the second session was good for us”. Karun Nair walked to the crease batting at six on Test debut and got his first runs with a fine cover drive that raced away for four.

Dropped on 35 by Jonny Bairstow, Pujara went on to make 51 before falling to a Rashid long-hop and his dismissal sparked off a middle order collapse. In five innings against India so far, Rashid has picked up 16 wickets at an economy of 3.52 and has a strike-rate of 48.06 in the series. Earlier, returning wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel (42) gave the hosts a sturdy start before being trapped lbw off Rashid in the fourth over after lunch.

Two overs later Rashid had his third wicket of the day as Rahane lasted only six balls, with Nair then undone by a direct-hit run out by Jos Buttler.

The visitors gained the upper hand in the post tea session, pegging the hosts back with an excellent effort with the ball as well as in the field.

“It was a ball I probably could have hit for four, but I didn’t time it well”.

Pujara and Kohli then joined forces to frustrate the tourists with their steady accumulation of runs. Few balls later, India were further dented when Ajinkya Rahane fell to Rashid for a duck.

In the company of a resolute Jadeja desperate to reaffirm his batting credentials, Ashwin went on to reach his ninth Test half-century. So, tomorrow the first session would be really crucial for us.

“I think we have an advantage that both our all-rounders are playing”. England had held the scoring rate in check and didn’t allow the Indian batters to score fluently.

“I think we did not struggle but the lines that they (England) were bowling were a little negative”.

A freaky early appeal for obstructing the field against Murali Vijay, who barely moved an inch when James Anderson threw the ball back towards the stumps with the batsman just out of his ground but obviously able to regain it if necessary, was never going to succeed but did betray a perceived deterioration of relations between these two teams.

The 31-year-old successfully overturned a caught behind decision when he had 12 – replays showing a Woakes delivery had flicked his shirt rather than bat – and rather dominated a first-wicket stand of 39 with out-of-sorts Murali Vijay.

James Anderson (0-36) had made a freakish appeal for obstruction of throw against the batsman, who stood his ground, but the umpires turned it down.

In the morning, it took Mohammed Shami just fourteen minutes from start of play to pick up the last two England wickets and bring an end to the first innings at 283.

Shami had Rashid caught behind and then trapped Gareth Batty lbw.

Adil Rashid would no doubt be embarrassed by the comparison but statistically, at least, he has enjoyed a better Test series in India than the great Shane Warne ever did.