Forty-four overs and one ball. That’s how long Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow batted over two sessions across days two and three.

This partnership encapsulated why England are a tougher opponent than any other India have faced this year. When a sixth-wicket partnership stretches that long, it usually is a game changer.

However, when Umesh Yadav bowled Bairstow just before lunch, England were still trailing by 265 runs. And they lost their last four wickets for just 65 runs. It reflected on the value of scoring on a true Indian pitch such as this – not a raging turner, but just doing enough on this third day.

Yes, the wicket has held together longer than anyone could have anticipated, and indeed what pre-match pictures and inspection suggested. The visitors, especially their top order, will be kicking themselves for not even saving the follow-on.

The correct mix of caution and aggression

“It is a case of gritting your teeth and cracking on. We have shown that we can score on these pitches, and we got 500 runs here last week. When we come out to bat, we need to be positive and look to score runs. There’s runs to be had on this pitch,” said Bairstow after the day’s play.

These words are a keen pointer to his partnership with Stokes. Both batsmen have a streak of aggression in their play, but the trick on this pitch – unlike Rajkot – is to wait, and then wait some more. Jayant Yadav said this is a spin attack that strives for consistency, but eventually loose balls are bound to come. Wait too long though, and suddenly you have faced quite a few deliveries without anything to show for it.

The likes of Haseeb Hameed and Moeen Ali were guilty of waiting too long. Joe Root was a touch blameworthy of not waiting. The equilibrium was found a tad late in their batting line-up and there is only so much Stokes-Bairstow could redeem. They tried though, mixing caution with aggression, particularly the all-rounder.

He is a fantastic player, and that is an understatement. Quite a lot can be said about the balance he brings to this English side, and yet the more remarkable aspect ought to be his temperament. In these first two Tests, he has had to make a contribution with the bat, more than the ball. And on both occasions, he just knew how to play the situation. If Rajkot was about pushing the accelerator, Vizag has been about nursing an ailing car and bringing it to the finish line.

The Ashwin show...

Only, Stokes could not do it alone. This is Test cricket in India after all, and here spinners reign supreme, particularly one who is ruling the world ranking charts at the moment. Ravichandran Ashwin cancels out what Stokes brings, with both bat and ball, and this series is a fascinating contest for supremacy between these two. Day three was but a small example.

Using the roller before play began had tempered the variable bounce in this pitch, but after lunch, Ashwin found his liking. The drift, missing in Rajkot, was back and the batsmen had to dig deep. Stokes was equal to the task, until an inside edge ended his knock, never mind whether he was out leg-before-wicket or caught at silly point.

Adil Rashid then followed what Stokes and Bairstow had preached, but on a wearing track, it was too much to handle for the English lower order. That word “wearing” is important at this juncture to understand why India did not enforce the follow-on.

The pitch had not worn down enough, not nearly, to go in with a 200-run lead. And when it eventually does, by then India will have put up a tall fourth-innings’ total. This is the modus operandi of skipper Virat Kohli. Only thing, it provided a little break for the visitors.

Stuart Broad was perhaps angry that he was wrongly given out. Or maybe, he was miffed that he did not get to use the Decision Review System for that dubious call. Either way, when he misses out on the third Test owing to rising fitness concerns, his opening spell in the second Indian innings will be missed.

Time and again, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and James Anderson have given a peek at the pace quality in this otherwise spin-dominant series.

In those four overs, Broad trumped them all, as he etched out Murali Vijay and KL Rahul with some help from DRS of course.

That India’s various opening combinations are going through an indifferent patch this season is a debate for another day. That Cheteshwar Pujara replicated what Hameed and Ali did on day two evening was a bigger wonderment at 40/3.

....and the Kohli climax

It is not to say that England would have had to chase only 240, but India’s top-order was wobbling. The pitch, again, has behaved unpredictably so far and even a 350-target would have given the visitors some hope. This is where Kohli’s half-century becomes even more imperious than his hundred in the first innings.

Like Root, it had the same impact on scoring. He was batting on a different pitch, hitting boundaries with aplomb. His on-drive off Stokes was a peach and a half. The big difference from Root was that he did not take the aerial route, which is an increasingly regular phenomenon in his Test knocks now.

It would also be true to say that the English spinners did not put enough pressure on Kohli that he needed to break free. Any impetus the opposition had was lost when their pacers were done with initial spells. Alastair Cook tried hard to rotate them, but to no avail.

The lead, at stumps on day three then, stands at 298. Even if the Indian batting collapses from hereon, they could easily add another hundred runs. And once the target is set beyond the 400-mark, England will only be fighting for survival.

Come to think of it, they already are.