England gained the upper hand in the Ranchi Test on Saturday by taking 7 Indian wickets on Day 2 at the JSCA stadium.
India reached 219 for 7 by stumps, still trailing England's first innings score by 134 runs with Dhruv Jurel (30*) and Kuldeep Yadav (17*) at the crease.
Jurel and Kuldeep batted with caution to add 42 for the 8th wicket and would be expected to do the same in the first session when they resume India's fight on Day 3.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Jurel were the only three batters who got decent starts while the rest struggled against England spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley on the low and slow wicket at this venue.
Jaiswal shines again for India
Jaiswal top-scored with 73 while Gill made 38 but both would be kicking themselves for getting out against the run of play as they were looking settled during their 82-run partnership for the second wicket before it was broken by Bashir in the second session.
Shoaib Bashir shows his class
The rookie off-spinner grabbed a four-wicket haul for 84 runs from his 32 overs and got good support from Hartley (2/47) from the other end. They struck in the second and third sessions after James Anderson had removed India captain Rohit Sharma (2) cheaply just before the Lunch break.
Joe Root roars back to form
Earlier on Saturday, England were bowled out for 353 in the opening session with Joe Root standing tall with an unbeaten 122 as the visitors showed tremendous recovery from being reduced to 112/5 at one stage on the opening day.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the chief wrecker for India with 4 wickets while debutant Akash Deep took 3 and Mohammed Siraj bagged a couple of scalps.
"We had a good couple of days. That's how I play every game really, play according to the situation and conditions (when asked if he made a conscious effort to play attritional cricket). It looks like the pitch will keep deteriorating.
"I was desperate to get some runs for the guys and I was happy to do that today," Root said after the day's play.
Brief Scores:
India 1st innings: 353 all out in 104.5 overs (Joe Root 122, Ollie Robinson 58, Ben Foakes 47; Ravindra Jadeja 4/67, Akash Deep 3/83)
England 1st innings: 219/7 in 73 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 73; Shoaib Bashir 4/84).
