Ben Stokes’ team could not fully cash in on the captain’s decision to bat first after at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Their total of 246 now wears an anaemic look, given India finished Thursday just 127 runs behind with nine wickets in hand.

Skipper Rohit Sharma perished to Jack Leach after an 80-run stand with opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal in quick time. The latter took full toll of the listless England attack with an unbeaten 76 (70b; 9×4, 3×6) and looked good in the company of Shubman Gill.

With all three of their reviews gone, the three-pronged spin attack of England faces an onerous task. The tone for the series has been set, with the seamers sending down less than 15 of the 88 overs bowled on the day.

If it was 12.3 overs combined for Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj on the first day of the first match in the five-Test series, it was just two overs from Mark Wood, which included an unsuccessful review for a caught-behind verdict against Jaiswal.
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