The pre-match talk had all been about Virat Kohli vs Joe Root – well, apart from the pitch in Vizag – as both batsmen were playing their 50th Test. The pitch turned up on day two as India got both turn and bounce. This was after Kohli had showed up on day one, hitting his 14th Test century before being dismissed for 167 on the second morning. It was Root’s turn to show up when England came to bat, facing a deficit of 455.

He did – for a while, at least – after England lost their skipper Alastair Cook to a peach of a delivery from Mohammed Shami that chopped the left-hander’s off stump into two. He weathered the storm for a while, along with Haseeb Hameed, before he ran the 19-year-old out following a mix-up. He then lost Ben Duckett to a comical shot against the off-spin of Ravichandran Ashwin. England were 72/3 at the time, as Moeen Ali came to join him. He knew that it was all up to him.

He had played India’s spinners well till then, showing great technique and footwork on a pitch that was opening up. He reached a well-deserved half-century with a paddle-sweep off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. He kept England alive in the contest – just about. Until it happened. A moment of a lapse in concentration led him to take on Ashwin as he stepped down and tried to whack the off-spinner over long-on. To his and England’s horror, he only managed to miscue it high in the air towards long-off, where Umesh Yadav, positioned at mid-off, ran backwards and took the catch. Root was gone for 53; England 79/4. It was all over now.

India went in for the kill. Jayant Yadav, who had played a useful knock of 35 with the bat and effected the run-out of Hameed with a lighning-quick slide-pick-and-throw, was now given the ball in his debut Test. The off-spinner did not take long to get into the action with the ball as well, as he struck Moeen Ali in front in his second over. The umpire reckoned it was not out, but Yadav persuaded his captain, Virat Kohli, to take the review. Kohli agreed, and Hawk-Eye went on to show all three reds. Yadav had his first wicket and India had sent half the English team back to the pavilion for 80 runs.

It was a great review by India, which was sandwiched between two unsuccessful ones that showed their inexperience with the technology. Wriddhiman Saha had wasted a review in the morning session while batting, before Jadeja decided not to use one for a leg-before decision when replays showed he should have. Then, with the ball, Jadeja was convinced he had clipped the edge of Ben Stokes’s bat and Kohli immediately went for a review, without consulting his wicketkeeper or close-in fielders, after the umpire ruled not out. He would regret it soon enough.

But in the context of where things stand in the match, it would hardly matter to India right now. They are well on top of this match and should be able to take a 1-0 lead in the series by Monday if everything goes according to plan. India’s plan after winning the toss on Thursday would have been to score at least 450, dismiss England for less than 300, then put on 250 and declare, giving the visitors an improbable 400 to chase in the fourth innings. Part one of the plan has been accomplished. Part two is halfway done.

England, meanwhile, have a lot to ponder over. Apart from the dismissals of Cook and Ali, the three others could have definitely been avoided. One was down to poor technique, the second to poor communication and the third to poor shot selection. On a crumbling Indian pitch, these are deadly sins.

Brief score:

India 455 (Virat Kohli 167, Cheteshwar Pujara 119; Moeen Ali 3/98, James Anderson 3/62) lead England 103/5 (Joe Root 53; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/20, Jayant Yadav 1/11, Mohammed Shami 1/15) by 352 runs.