It is getting spicy out there. England lost a single wicket in the second session of the first day at Mohali but it could be decisive. Ben Stokes, as has been his forte, was taking the attack back to India after his team had been pulled back to 92/4. With Jonny Bairstow in tow at the other end, Stokes had hit five boundaries and put on a 47-run partnership, before as has been the trend of England’s batting this innings, threw away his wicket.

Ravindra Jadeja’s nagging line proved too much for Stokes as he skipped down the ground, only to completely a drive. Parthiv Patel was fast and whipped off the bails immediately as India got a vital breakthrough. But, what followed, enlivened proceedings: Stokes and Virat Kohli exchanged words and even the umpires got involved.

It was probably a follow-up from the first session when Kohli was involved in a similar incident, this time, with Bairstow. The Indian captain had thrown the ball back at England’s wicket-keeper after he had played a defensive stroke, hitting him on the glove. Bairstow had taken offence and though Kohli remonstrated, the umpires stepped in to have a quiet word with the Indian skipper.

But, in between that, the English wicket-keeper kept himself unflustered and worked his way to a patient half-century. His unbeaten 66 at tea included five fours but he could consider himself lucky: just after Stokes’s stumping, Patel failed to hold on to a thin edge which could have put England in further trouble. It was another demonstration of how sloppy India have been in the field this entire series.

That being said, it was a charged-up Indian team on the field. The noise levels were high, the fielders around the bat were constantly chirping and England, even if they got runs, were constantly under pressure. But Bairstow and Buttler held on as England went to tea at 205/5.

Brief scores:

England 205/5 (Jonny Bairstow 66 not out, Jos Buttler 38 not out; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/35, Ravindra Jadeja 1/36) vs India